No longer the same
February 20, 2009 (Friday)
In the play, Pygmalion, Eliza Doolittle is transformed from a flower girl with crude speech habits to a beautiful lady who mastered the pronunciation of English words. She was changed.
The Bible tells us of several people who were changed, not just in the way they spoke their language, but in deeper, more meaningful ways. The Apostle Paul wrote, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). He said that because he knew it was true, and had experienced it in his own life.
In Acts 9, we are told that Saul of Tarsus (who became the Apostle Paul) was traveling from Jeruslem to Damascus to arrest people who believed Jesus was the Son of God and the Messiah, when suddenly he was blinded by a bright light and heard a voice. The voice asked, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. The answer came, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.” When he stood and opened his eyes, he realized he was blind.
Saul was then instructed by the living Christ to go into Damascus and wait for a man named Ananias, who would give him further instructions. After three days of prayer, Ananias came to the house where Saul was staying, touched him and watched as something like scales fell from his eyes so that he could see again. He accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior and was baptized. Not only could he now see again with his eyes, he could see with his heart. He had been miraculously changed.
The proof of his new heart was his new life. He had been persecuting Believers, but now he was preaching the glorious gospel of new life in Christ. He spent the rest of his life going throughout the world, telling people about Jesus. As he put it, “To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). He was indeed a new creation.
Has Jesus Christ come into your life? Do you believe in Him as the Son of God and the Savior of the world? May you say with Paul, “It is no longer I who live; but Christ lives in me!” (Galatians 2:20).