But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  (Phil 3:7).

They said I was a fool, that I have lost my mind. My friends have shunned me because I am not the same person I was before – the one who sat with them over several packs of chilled beer, with noses billowing smoke, and mouths that needed serious cleansing. “Those were the happy days, bro,” they said, “but what happened to you? Who did this to you?”

 I felt ashamed to tell my story in the beginning, but not anymore. The marvelous light that led me out of the dungeon and into the blissful presence of my Savior beams brightly around me every time I give my testimony. The shame and guilt I felt at their inquisition has left me, and I am now confident to share my joy in Jesus. I am able to respond with a smile and a gentle voice, “The person you knew before; friends, is dead.”

It happened in a Christian meeting in 1990 when I heard a testimony that changed my life forever. For the first time, I heard in a new and loving way that I was a sinner, condemned to death (Rom. 3:23; 6:23). I saw how dirty I was when a young physician described his life before he met the life-changing Carpenter from Nazareth called Jesus Christ. He glowed with joy and confidence as he gave his testimony, and I knew instantly, what I was missing. When he finally made the altar call, I sprinted at Olympic record speed and claimed my free pass to heaven. That’s when I died, brothers and sisters.

 As I repeated those words of repentance and submission to the Lordship of Christ Jesus, I felt a peace I had never known before. The joy I had seen in the face of that young physician filled my heart, and all of a sudden, I knew I was a new person; the old was gone, the new had come (2Cor. 5:17). Darkness had been rolled away and the chains of satanic bondage had been broken by those powerful words of Jesus on the Cross, “It is finished” (Jn. 19:30). A new life had dawned for me by the power of His resurrection. So, it is “no longer I who live, but Christ [Jesus who] lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20)

            That’s why I look strange to you, my friends. The old person you knew is dead. A new person now lives in Christ Jesus, enabled by His Holy Spirit who dwells in me. Yes, I struggle sometimes, but Jesus is ever-present to pull me up, dust me off, and fill me with renewed strength to carry on. It gives me the assurance that when the time comes for me to leave this world, I can say with Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7). Heaven will open to me, and I will hear the welcome He has prepared for me, “Well done, good and faithful servant; … Enter into the joy of your Lord” (Matt. 25:23).

            Will you join me, friend?