As our Wednesday evening
Bible study wrapped up for the summer, Dick asked each member of the group to share
their favorite Scripture and why it is meaningful to them. Immediately, 2
Corinthians 5:17 came to my mind: “Those who join with Jesus become new
persons. They are not the same anymore; the old life is gone; a new life has
begun!”
When I became a Christian, God showed me this verse early on. It stuck with me because I immediately saw its truth manifested in me. When I asked Jesus to come into my life, He changed how I thought about things, how I saw things, how I reacted to things—my life was made new!
On the outside, what the world saw probably didn’t appear much different. But my view of God, my understanding of how we get to Heaven, my perspective on living out the Christian life, changed dramatically.
Before, God was a distant, judge-like deity with a giant calculator, adding and subtracting points on my heavenly account based on my behavior and works. Points were added for things like going to church, helping a friend, giving to the poor, etc., and points were deducted when I lashed out in anger, watched a questionable TV program, lied to someone, etc. I thought if my good deeds outweighed my sins, I would end up with a positive balance in my account when I died and would go to Heaven, but if I ended up in the red, I would go to Hell.
God showed me how wrong that thinking was! He helped me understand that salvation from my sin could only come from trusting in Jesus’ death on the cross to pay the price for my forgiveness. Once I understood that basic concept my reasons for living as God wanted me to became about serving Him and being a loving witness to others, not about gaining points in my heavenly bank account.
Jesus offers this new life to everyone! Our past is put behind us! Our wrong thinking is corrected! We are transformed from the inside out!
Are you in need of a fresh start? That’s exactly what Jesus wants to give you! Just ask Him into your life. He will do the transformation!
Be encouraged!
