So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
2 Corinthians 5:16-17 (NLT)
One of my best friends is a guy named Bob. In the 1980’s, during the farm crisis, Bob, like a lot of his friends and neighbors, lost everything. He told me how hard it was to see his livestock sold and his machinery driven away. He was in the hole for a lot of money and most of his family and friends were encouraging him to declare bankruptcy like everyone else. But Bob said no and met with every one of his creditors, promising that no matter how long it took, he would repay every penny, even though he had no idea
how. He felt that was what God wanted him to do.
Not too long after that, Bob got a job driving a dump truck, and eventually, he started his own excavation business. God kept blessing Bob’s new business and he kept working hard and within a few years, he had repaid every one of his creditors, much to their surprise. Today, Bob’s business is flourishing and he has been a blessing to hundreds of people, including me.
It is an incredible turnaround story and I love telling it. But if you ask Bob about that turnaround, he will quickly tell you that it isn’t the biggest turnaround in his life. That, he will tell you, is when he gave his life to Christ. That’s when everything really changed in his life. Bob has experienced what Paul meant about in 2 Corinthians 5 when he wrote, “…anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” Talk about a recalculation!
When we become Christians (followers of Jesus) the old us gets left behind and we get to start brand new. In fact, the literal definition of the word repentance is, “a 180-degree turn.” Whenever I miss a turn when I am driving, my GPS will recalculate my route, and often its smooth voice tells me to “make a U-turn”. God does that same thing for us when we put our faith in Him. He helps us to recalculate and sets us on a new path. Our old route is gone, we’re on a new trajectory!
Have you made the decision to follow Jesus? If so, how has your life been recalculated? If not, what has stopped you from making that u-turn?