How Has Jesus Changed You?
By Doug Bing, Washington Conference president
What life changing moments do you remember? Do you remember where you were when those things happened?
Some events sear themselves into our memory and when we recall them we can see the exact place and time when those things happened.
- Do you remember where you were when the space shuttle exploded as the entire world watched?
- Do you remember where you were and what you were doing when two planes flew into the twin towers?
- Maybe you have a clear picture of when your children were born.
- Or when you heard the news that someone near and dear to you died.
Each and everyone of these things is a life altering moment. After each of those events or events like them, the world changed or your life changed. Things were altered.
How about that moment when you got engaged?
When I decided to pop the question to my wife in 1982 she was working at summer camp and I was working for Union College in the recruitment office.
I drove down to the summer camp in Kansas and managed to talk the camp director into giving her part of the afternoon off. We had very little time so I found a bluff that overlooked the lake close to the camp.
There I spread out on a blanket we started to talk. Soon I worked up the courage and asked my girlfriend to become my wife. That is the abbreviated version, but that afternoon and that moment is still very clear in my memory.
Each of these moments are life altering. After each of these moments life is not the same. Things change. Adjustments are made. Life takes on a different tone.
How about that time when you fell in love with Jesus?
That time when you fully committed yourself to Jesus. There is that realization of everything that Jesus has done for you and there is a serious tugging on the heart by God and you answer that call to fully commit to Jesus. That is also a life altering event.
You see, when we fall in love with Jesus and commit our lives to him we don’t stay the same. We become disciples.
In the great commission in the last verses of Matthew it clearly states that the goal of Christianity is disciples. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations. . . “Matthew 28:19
Baptizing someone is a great event. But the real goal is life-altering discipleship.
Not a one time public declaration of faith through baptism. Coming to Jesus is a life altering event that changes the course of ones life. You will not be left in the same place. You will change because discipleship and following Jesus changes you.