As a former
lost person, that is….before I had a relationship with Jesus Christ, I lived
for myself, I did what I wanted to do, what I thought would make me happy. We believe the things of this world will
bring us happiness, joy, peace, purpose…our selfish desires never fulfill us or
bring us contentment. We will always be
searching for the next thing to make us feel better and those that quit
searching turn to things that will dull or block the hurt or pain that we need
taken away. The remedy for our illness,
our discontentment, our searching….is Jesus.
He is all that we need and when we give up and relinquish our lives to
Him then we will stop trying to find something here in this world to bring us peace. When we live eternal minded, when we live for
Jesus, we realize that nothing this world has to offer is worth giving up
eternity for, our relationship with Christ, our souls for…when we surrender our
lives to Jesus and give Him full control over our lives, He will change our
desires to be like His, He will mold us and grow us to be more like Him, more
full of love, joy, peace, hope, the list goes on and on. The change He makes in our heart overrules
those previous selfish and sinful ways we used to live and want to live. This is one of the most amazing things about
the Gospel, that through the power of the resurrected King, He changes us in
such mighty ways that we are sometimes unrecognizable. People that really know us and the way we “used
to live” are awestruck by the change in us, a change only made possible by
laying down our lives at the feet of Jesus, surrendering to Him.
"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me." Galatians 2:20
When Jesus died for me, for you, for the world...His sacrifice was payment for our sin. When we acknowledge that payment and accept this free gift, He sends His Holy Spirit to live inside us. The Spirit needs fed, its nourishment comes from staying in a close relationship with God, by reading His Word and communicating with Him in prayer. It's His Spirit living in us that convicts us, that reminds us that He needs time with us, that keeps us on the path He has planned for us.
I say this all the time...if we only knew the amazing plans He has for us, if we could look into the future....we would be on our faces in awe and wonder of Him, of His goodness, His grace...and we would give up everything this world has to offer to live for Him. He won't make us robots, He wants us to want a relationship with Him, He wants us to love Him...seek Him out, trust Him...He is worth it and so much more.
