My personal motto, if I had one, would be centred around transition, change, a new life, or growth. Thus, my brand is neoslife (new life). I grew up in a Christian home so my new life as a Christian has been more of a slow transition than a 180 change. But there has been change. As I let Jesus fill me with the Spirit, I become more like him. A pale comparison for sure, but bit by bit, more of his essence of love becomes a part of who I am. And the more it invades me, the more I realize that the person I was is not as good as I’d hope.
It is God himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago he planned that we should spend these lives in helping others. (Ephesians 2:10 TLB)
There are so many verses in scripture about how when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, we will have new life in him, and in that new life we have a divine purpose. That purpose is to share Jesus, to share his love. One purpose, and so many opportunities. Take a moment to stop what you're doing and take a look around you. Who do you see? Who are they? What is their situation? See the opportunities to affect these people with the love of Jesus. The opportunities are endless. You have an opportunities to change people, and it doesn’t take much.
This past week, Canadians mourned the passing of Walter Gretzky, father to one of Canada’s greatest hockey players, Wayne Gretzky. The vast tributes to Walter spoke of his love for his family, for hockey, for Canada and for the community in which he lived. I never met Walter, but have heard so many stories of how he‘d approach people, introduce himself and just sit and chat. He’d readily make himself available as a guest speaker to so many charities because he recognized his ability to help just by being there. Those small gestures of kindess affected people.
In the eulogy for his father, Wayne said “He has a tremendous amount of faith. Faith like I've never seen, but he had a love for life and he didn't want to leave.” I don’t know for sure what Walter’s relationship with Jesus was, but I seems that he lived by Ephesians 2:10. He loved this life and he loved spending his life helping others, even though the next life would be greater.
When Jesus fills you, you see your life in a new way. Not for personal gain and glory, but for divine gain and glory. We are here for Jesus. When we receive his love, we see the world through his loving eyes, we can’t help but reach out and share that love. He changes our perspective and he changes our purpose. He changes us from the inside out.
See the world in a new way. Be like Walter and go say hello to one of those people in front of you.
