new creation

what does that mean? on earth (as opposed to in heaven) what does it really mean to be a new creation? is there a switch that flips suddenly when you accept Christ into your heart, do you suddenly become a different person? most people would probably say no. i've been a "child of God" since i was very young, and i still struggle every day with sin. recently i had time to reflect on "obstacles" that are in the way of my relationship with God. there are two ways to look at this 1) what sins are you committing that are therefore obstacles to your relationship, 2) what things hinder your relationship with God, that are therefore obstacles? generally during our prayer of confession at church i have a "hard" time coming up with "sins" i've committed that i need to ask God for forgiveness for. recently i had started asking forgiveness for not spending time with God, realizing that we are commanded to, and that i wasn't. i have been reading the bible daily, but still find it difficult to pray (especially in earnest) and even harder to listen to God. well, this weekend when it was put to me to examine what things are obstacles to my relationship and that those too were sins, the list started to get quite long. first i tried to blame my inadequacies on time and my husband's lack of enthusiasm. but as i continued to reflect on my attitude and my actions, i realized my husband had little to do with it, and my unwillingness had everything to do with it. the only way to be a "new creation" is to put forth the effort to change your attitude and your actions, and to ask for God's help, because we can not do it alone. that isn't to say that a new attitude will get you into heaven, only God's grace can do that, but true acceptance and love for Christ should cause you to want to make changes in your life. and when we get to heaven, we will be new creations.