Made New

A friend of mine was sharing with me how he had been witnessing to his uncle. One day they were out together and the uncle said, “I don’t know why I’m still here.” My friend replied, “God must have something for you to do still.” The uncle paused, looked at him and said, “You don’t know all the bad things I’ve done. I’ve done some horrible things.” My friend gently replied, “Those things are no match for the blood of Jesus. The grace of God is greater than anything you have done.” They uncle hesitantly admitted God had been dealing with him, but kept referring to who he had been. My friend said, “It doesn’t matter who you have been or how you have lived. What matters is how you respond to God’s grace.” Heaven rejoiced that day.

In Luke 19, Jesus was on His way through Jericho to Jerusalem. As He walked through the streets, crowds gathered around Him. There was a man in the crowd who had been dying to meet Jesus, but couldn’t see Him because he couldn’t see over the crowd. He then ran ahead of where Jesus was going and climbed up a sycamore tree so He could see Jesus. When Jesus got near him, He looked up and told Zacchaeus that He needed to go to his house. The people were upset that Jesus chose to go into the home of a notorious sinner. Zacchaeus responded to that invitation by saying he was going to give half of his possessions away to the poor and repay those he cheated. Jesus said that salvation had come into that house.

Ephesians 4:22-23 says, “So get rid of your old self, which made you live as you used to—the old self that was being destroyed by its deceitful desires. Your hearts and minds must be made completely new” (GNT). Our response to God’s grace should be to put off who we used to be. That becomes our old identity because now we identify as God’s child. Since we no longer identify as that person, we are to get rid of that behavior from our lives. God has given you a new identity that comes with new behaviors. Remember, it’s not about who you have been that matters. It’s how you respond to God’s grace. My friend’s uncle and Zacchaeus both changed their identities and how they lived. It’s time each of us allow ourselves to be made new.

Photo by Manny Moreno on Unsplash