Living Life by Design

When I first accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior, there was an instant change inside my heart. Where there was once pain, intense anger and loneliness was now joy, acceptance and love beyond anything I had ever experienced. I was healed from the inside out. I walked out of the church service absolutely glowing and my feet felt like they weren’t touching the ground. Each conversion experience is different. Some are more pragmatic or matter of fact, and that’s ok. I’m thankful I had the experience I had.

The pastor who prayed with me gave me a Bible and said that I needed to do three things. First, tell everyone what I had experienced. Second, read the Bible he gave me, starting in the New Testament. Then finally, find a good church. He ended his time with me by saying that there will be those who tell me nothing happened and that my experience was all in my head. People would try to talk me out of my new life direction. He was right.

After that evening, I was indeed bombarded with ‘friends’ who told me I was crazy, and the glow I felt began to fade. My best friend and I got into an actual fist fight over my newfound path. I began to look inside and focus on me…not up to focus on Him. I turned back to things that weren’t good for me. I struggled until I began reading my Bible on regular bases. I began going to church and turned my attention upwards. The glow I had felt returned.

A change of heart and mind means not only turning away from the things that are not good for you, but also turning towards God and good. The word ‘repent’ rarely appears on its own in the Bible. Genuine repentance is shown by its fruit. Remorse is not enough. A change of mind, heart and life is required. It is nearly always, ‘repent and…’. Repent and believe. Repent and put your faith in Jesus Christ. It is not just a case of looking back, but also looking up. Faith looks up.

If today you find yourself in a rut, having fallen back into things that you know are not good for you, you only need to look up. It’s time to repent…just don’t forget the ‘and’.