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When I was about 6 or 7 years old, the little old lady across the street invited us kids to a VBS she taught in her front yard. That was the first time I heard about "asking Jesus into my heart". That night, I asked Jesus to come and be a part of my life. I made a choice that God was good, and a person ought to give Him due respect. I think of that as the first time I gave God permission to talk with me, hold me responsible, and generally be involved in my life. I think that opened the door for Him to keep me from any serious trouble. However, it wasn't until about 10 years later that I arrived at a day when I think I really understood what the Gospel was saying and chose to accept Christ as my Lord.

By that point in my life, I had cheated on tests at school, lied, hit my sister, and more. When I humbled myself and asked Jesus to be my Master, to heal me, to save me, He did. Right then and there. I was forgiven, washed free, and given a fresh start! He loved a sinner like me! What an incredible blessing–a gift I didn't earn and didn't really know what to do with.

I wish I could say that was the end of my sinning, but it wasn't. I distinctly remember choosing to do things that I knew God would not approve of after that. I usually felt terrible about it. I regretted whatever I had done, and would not have been surprised if Jesus gave up on me. But He never did. He continued to forgive me. He still forgave me, even knowing how I would fail Him next week, or next month. He stayed by my side. As time with Him went on, I realized something else was happening. He was changing my heart.

I used to think Jesus saved me by forgiving me from the consequences of my sin. Now I see He does even more than that. He saves me from the sin itself, by changing my will and desires until I move from lies to truth, stealing to sharing, death to life. This is more than saving me in the moment. This is saving my whole life from being a tragic story. He redeems me, restores me, elevates me. This is Sanctification. He makes me holy, where before I was only filthy. This is God's ultimate goal for all of us: that we might be transformed, by His power, to be as He is. That is what the Church Father Irenaeus meant when he famously said, "He became what we are so that we might become what He is".

God accepts us as sinners, but He doesn't just leave us there. If we will allow it, and accept it, He begins the process of reshaping us to be something glorious, as He is! As I begin a new year, I wonder just how He will continue to transform me this year. How about you? How can you participate in God's salvation and transformation of your life this year?

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

Pastor Evan Elwell

Pomeroy Church of the Nazarene