NEW CREATION
I had been considering the
possibility of becoming a Christian and a follower of Jesus, and had been reading
the bible in order to learn something about God and His instructions. I
thought that if I became a Christian I would have to make a lot of changes
in my life and I wasn't certain that I was prepared to do that. Then on
Friday, March 23, when I sensed and realized my spiritual guilt,
failures and
shortcomings, I knew for certain that I was not ready to meet God under
any circumstances. I made a conscious, deliberate decision. I recall that I looked up at the
ceiling of the machine shop where I was working and said, "Lord, I want to
be a Christian. I want your forgiveness and your salvation more than
anything else in the world". I made that decision to follow Jesus, even
though I knew that it would be a different kind of life and that there
would have to be a lot of changes. What I didn't realize at that time was
that I would not have to make all the changes by myself, but the Lord
Himself would make many of them not just for me, but in me.
I went to church Sunday morning and
brought home a weekly magazine that the church gave to people as they were
leaving. I began to look through the magazine at home and read one of the
little stories, I believe it was a true story, about some events happening
in the life of a family. It was a tender story and ordinarily would not
have had any effect on me but suddenly, as I read, I could sense the
plight and circumstances of that family and the tears began to flow from
my eyes and I was almost overwhelmed with compassion. That was not normal
for me. I knew that something was different inside me and that, somehow,
my heart had been made tender and sensitive. I began to realize
that Jesus had made some changes. I had not made the changes but He did.
I began to sense and notice many
other changes that had taken place within me and each time I would realize
that I had not made those changes. I had a different view upon the
happenings and circumstances of my daily life. Some things (things, not
people) that I thought I once loved, I didn't love anymore. Some things
that would have greatly attracted my attention didn't attract me anymore.
Some things that I saw or heard and once would have been immediately
interested in made me feel sad or even guilty for having seen or heard
them. Things were new and different. I won't even attempt to try to
explain all of that but that's just the way it was. I was different and the
changes that had taken place inside me were surprising and amazed even me. What I didn't fully
comprehend at that time was that I was a new creation in Christ Jesus.
I found that Jesus was making most
of the changes in my life that needed to be made but I still had a choice.
I could still choose whether to follow the new insight that was within me
or to follow the old way. I am very thankful that the Lord helped me so
much in those first days and weeks of my new life and journey as a
Christian. I later learned that He did expect me to grow and mature as a
Christian, so that I would be able to make wise spiritual decisions on my
own, and He began to leave more and more decisions and choices up to me. I will
be eternally thankful and grateful for the merciful and gracious way in
which Jesus saved me and helped me to turn around and become a child of
God. I have learned that it is a daily, ongoing process involving choices each
day, whether to follow the Lord or go off on some other trail. We must continue to
believe in the Lord and we must continue choosing to follow the Lord
because there are many voices that would call to us to lead us astray. There are
many beliefs and practices that are totally contrary to the teachings of God's
word. We must be sure that
we are listening to the voice of the Lord, paying attention to His word and following Him.
"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have
fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us
from all sin"
1 John 1:7 NIV
And that's the way it was that day, on Pilgrim Jim's journey.
James Lloyd Clark
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