Transformed by Christ

Ephesians 4:21-24 (NLT)
21 Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, 22 throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. 23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.

Christ is both the lesson and the teacher. We learn about Christ as we allow Christ to work through us. The apostle tells us that our old nature must be thrown aside. We are then to allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives to change and renew our thoughts and attitudes. We are to put on this new nature like a garment, which leads us to righteousness and holiness.

 

It is amazing when you witness someone transformed by Christ; when their mind is renewed and the thoughts they were thinking totally change. An experience I refer to often is when God allowed me to share the gospel with a taxi driver. Not only was the life of the taxi driver transformed, but my own life was also changed. You see this taxi driver was in a bad mood until I mentioned my morning was going well because I had gotten up and read my Bible. Those few words make the taxi driver say, “I don’t about me and God. I have played in a church band, but I never understood Jesus.” After taking a few minutes to talk with the man he stopped the taxi, looked at me and said, “Would you pray with me now that I can change to be like Jesus? I want to be saved!” Right in the middle of downtown Washington, D.C. traffic we parked and prayed. The man looked up and said, “I asked God for someone to tell me about Jesus and he sent you.” The man was Mr. Brown and suddenly he had a new outlook on life and was smiling.

The story doesn’t end there. A year later I had returned to Washington, D.C. for another class I was teaching. I hailed a taxi and gave the cabbie my destination. In the cab was a picture and ID about the driver. It was the same man I had spoken with a year earlier. Sitting in the back seat I said, “Hello Mr. Brown do you remember talking to me last year?” He replied, “Yes, you are that man that told me about Jesus.” I asked, “How is life” and he said “With Jesus it is wonderful!”

Not only did God change Mr. Brown, but he changed me by allowing me to see the fruits of what happens when you take a few moments to talk about Jesus with another person. It was a blessing to see Mr. Brown so happy and ready to tell me what Jesus had done in his life.