Something I read in David Platt’s book Follow Me set my mind to thinking. His statement was:
“The fruit of following Jesus is a new heart with a new mind, new desires,
a new will, a new way of relating to people around you, and a new purpose.”
Well, I’ve been in the church long enough that I wasn’t surprised by the fact that when a person surrenders to follow Jesus the person gets a new heart, mind, desires, will, etc. But what really struck me HARD was the word “new”. I’m tellin’ ya…little word, huge impact.
PAUSE TO PONDER. Let’s say that you have worked in the same office with the same people for quite some time now; and one weekend you go shopping and buy a new outfit. Monday morning rolls around, and you eagerly put on your new duds and go to work. When you walk into your office, people look at you and say, “Hey! You got a new outfit. Nice!” How did they know it was new? It was “different” from what you had been wearing.
Well that’s when the Spirit served up some food for thought. When I became a follower of Jesus, He “clothed me with the garments of salvation” and “covered me with the robe of righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10). I have been “clothed with Christ” (Galatians 3:27). Since I am in Christ, “The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
That’s when the Spirit brought it home.
When I became a follower of Jesus and was clothed with Christ, was it as obvious to people as it is when I get a new outfit? More simply put, am I noticeably different now than I was before I became a follower of Christ?
“NEW” IS NOTICEABLE
This left me doing some pretty heavy self-examination.
- What’s different in me now than before I chose to follow Christ?
- How have my priorities and desires changed…or have they even changed at all?
- Are the same things important to me now as they were before Jesus?
- How important am I to myself?
- How is the way I love people different?
- What am I sacrificing for the cause of Christ?
- What has following Jesus cost me?
“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith;
test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—
unless, of course, you fail the test?”
~~2 Corinthians 13:5~~
Remember…”New” is noticeable.