By: Mike Kelly
Retired Pastor
Last week I wrote about accepting the free gift of life offered by God through the death and resurrection of his son, Jesus. Let’s say you said “yes” to God’s gift. Now what?
Remember we are a three-part being … Body, Mind/Soul and Spirit. Our spirit is the eternal side of us that is totally renewed when we accept God’s gift. That’s the part of us that will live forever with Jesus.
If we pass on God’s offer of a pardon, we’ll still have Satan as our “boss” so life won’t change a lot. Our “obligations” will seem minor since we pretty much get to do what we want.
Until the bill comes due, like a balloon payment at the end of a loan: in this case, the payment is an eternity in Hell. That seems like a loser idea to me and the last place I’d want to spend all eternity in.
If we choose to accept God’s pardon, our “obligations” need to be considered. We will be surrendering our lives to God, the Father. Anyone who has ever worked knows that a new boss does things differently than the old one.
That may mean that he will want some changes made in our lifestyle and life choices. Maybe we’ll have to give up some things over time that we like and do some things we’d rather not.
Although I will admit that the new boss is much more generous than the old one. And that balloon payment at the end will not be an issue because our new boss paid it in advance for us. We’ll simply move from here to Heaven in an instant and remain there for eternity. No judgment, no terror, no tears, no pain.
And if we accept God’s pardon, it actually doesn’t initially change how we behave on earth. That’s because our actions are governed by our brains.
Our mind/soul side is the part that makes the day-to-day decisions in this fallen world … What will I eat, what will I wear, how will I treat that person? Will I go to church or stay home? Our bodies are just the parts that obey our minds.
So, after we accept Christ, life becomes a long process where our minds begin to learn to agree with our spirits. Romans 12:1-2 reads “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy (that’s his decision to sacrifice Christ for us and to offer us a full pardon from our sins), to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God (here’s where we learn over time to live as Christ lived.
Not for ourselves but for others)—this is your true and proper worship (that means that our response to this great gift should be to live a life worthy of the gift we were given).
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, (don’t keep living like you’ve lived, like the world lives) but be transformed (changed) by the renewing of your mind (renewed to think like God thinks and not like we thought before he came into our lives).
Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (We’ll be able to understand God’s will and to joyfully implement it with his help.)
So, if you surrender to God, don’t expect to see a new “you” tomorrow. That transformation will take the rest of your life. It’s a change you will come to appreciate and enjoy.
But it all starts with saying “Yes” to his pardon. Will you ask God to forgive you and take over control of your life?
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Mike Kelly is the founding pastor of Bryan’s Grace Community Church (retired) and Board Chairman of Bryan’s Sanctuary Homeless Shelter and Williams County’s Compassion (free) Medical Clinic.