A New Man
By Tracy
Smith
“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person.
The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT)
Our church has a feature called
“Stories” - - videotaped testimonies that are played during a sermon when it
pertains to what the pastor is teaching about.
Two summers ago, a man shared during
the “Stories of Grace” series. He told us of some bad choices and unfortunate
decisions he had made as a young man that resulted in his being arrested. He
spoke of how he can look back at his life and see how he was pursued by God. He
shared about his choice to follow Jesus and how his life has changed by that decision
and how he lives his life in a completely different way now that he follows
Jesus. [1]
Both of my sons know this man since
he works with our youth group. My husband and I spoke to each boy about the
video testimony and the first thing each of them said was, “He’s the last person I would ever think would
have been arrested!” This comment allowed us to have an awesome discussion with
them about how God can change a person. We discussed how a person can be living
in a way that leads to bad decisions and heartbreak, but once they allow God
into their lives to do His work, all of that changes. The video testimony
showed this in such a beautiful way: As he talked, he was very serious as he
shared his journey, but then, just before the video fades out, it shows him
laughing and joyful.
The Bible has many examples of
people who change once they encounter Jesus. Matthew went from a tax collector,
who in the culture of the day was typically deceitful, to one of his twelve
disciples (Matthew 9:9-17). Zacchaeus, another tax collector, gave money
to the poor and paid back all those he cheated four times what he stole from them (Luke 19:1-10). Saul/Paul thought he was doing
God’s work by persecuting Christians, but after his encounter with Jesus on the
road to Damascus, he became one of the pillars of the early Church (Acts 9:1-19).
Of course, once we know Jesus we can
still make decisions that are not in our best interest, but at that point, we
have the Holy Spirit to guide us and help us through those rough times. We have
to remember that no matter where we’ve been or what we’ve done, Jesus can make
us new.
GOING
DEEPER:
1.
Read the stories of the individuals in Scripture mentioned above. Is
there something about one of their stories that resonates with you?
FURTHER
READING:
Along with
being a wife and mother to two teenage sons, Tracy is a ministry assistant at
Oakwood and works with a great group of Junior High girls.
