When Change Did Not Come

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (King James Version)

It’s true! When I accepted Christ as my Savior at the age of 14, many things changed for me. I became a child of God, I became aware of my sin and that each sin was against Him, I began reading the Bible, I desired to be with Christians, I attended church, my ideas and goals changed, and I basically started on a different road. Yet, over the years and even decades, I had to admit that many other things had not changed. I still housed attitudes, addictions, and mindsets that were far from new. They were STILL a part of me. I believe I missed something that many others are also missing.

I often read 2 Corinthians 5:17 and saw my “being in Christ” as merely my salvation experience and wondered why I had yet to see all the old things passing away and all the new things coming my way. It wasn’t a matter of just giving it enough time. It was a matter of there not being deep change beyond behavior modification and grit. Jesus’ words of “My yoke is easy and My burden is light seemed to be far removed from my experience. The changes I needed had to come from God and for some reason they weren’t coming…until recently!

What was the difference? I had to see 2 Corinthians 5:17 along side of John 15:1-11, where Jesus makes the statement, “Abide in Me.” To abide means to remain as one, not depart, be present, be held, to wait for and upon. Basically it has the idea of intimate connection. THAT is not the way I lived most of my Christian life and hence saw little internal change. As I have experienced connecting with God on a daily basis I have begun to see Him change me in some profound areas of my life. I have seen Him break addictions I had to food and people. I have seen Him revolutionize my family life and my marriage. I have seen Him redirect my focus.

I am daily becoming a different person and catching the first glimpses of the abundant life Jesus spoke of in John 15. What I found was that being in Christ for salvation is a one time decision. Being in Christ for a way of life is a daily, moment by moment decision and adventure. It is something I often heard others speak or write of, but failed to possess for myself. That has begun to change and actually started a couple weeks ago when I set a number of things aside for one week and turned my attention and my heart toward a God who continues to draw me to Himself.

Father, I have no doubt that the changes I am seeing are coming from You. I praise You for them and look for more because You are desirous to do more. Amen.