“And He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:15,17 NKJV
Have you ever wondered what Peter saw that made him follow Jesus? In Matthew 4:18-19, Peter was at his job, the source of his livelihood, when Jesus asked him to follow Him, and Peter did! Why did he do that?
Luke’s account of the story (Luke 5:2-11) gives us a clearer picture. You might be tempted to think that the miracle in this story was the great catch of fish, but do you realise that Peter abandoned all the fish to follow Jesus? That is a greater miracle! He must have seen something.
The gift of salvation changes your perspective so that you can see value in what the world does not. Salvation is a miracle of changed desires.
You received a higher calling in Christ, much more important than anything else that you could have ever done with your life. Matthew 13:44 likens the kingdom of heaven to a man who sold everything he had to buy a treasure. He saw salvation in Jesus and reckoned that everything else he had prior was less valuable. Everything else he had pursued in his life paled in comparison to following Jesus.
When you truly see what God has done in salvation, you begin seeing everything else from an eternal perspective. Our anchor text talks about how those who receive the life of Christ no longer live for themselves but for Christ. This is true of every believer. You are a new creation and all things, including your desires and ambitions, are made new. God has made you ambitious for a more worthy cause. One that will count for eternity.
The Apostle Paul’s conversion is an example of how Jesus can transform the passions of a man. Paul was a faithful Jew who was fervently committed to suppressing Christianity. However, he encountered the risen Christ on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-22), and from that moment on, he dedicated his life to spreading the Gospel. In Philippians 3:7, he writes about how the things he counted as gain before he met Christ were no longer important to him. His desires and ambitions had changed, and so have yours in Christ.
The epistles abound with reminders from the apostles about our new nature in Christ. Colossians 3:1-3 tells us that our old nature died and encourages us to set our affections on things above.
Dear believer, nothing compares to the promise you have in Jesus. You received a new life, new purpose, new desires and ambitions. Embrace this new identity and see everything from an eternal perspective.
Bible Reading Plan: John 8: 1-32