Salvation is a wonderful thing. In fact the most wonderful thing that can happen to any person. There are those who do not believe in” Miracles”. Yet the act of being born again is the greatest miracle that could ever happen to a person. Just think about it, God the creator of the universe coming down and living on the inside of His created being. My mind will not wrap around that concept. I thank God that He dealt with my heart, not just my head. Now that I have had that experience of being born again and Jesus lives in me 24/7, I may not understand all of it in my mind, but I sure believe it in my heart.
Another thing, I have come to understand, the awesome privilege of being a Christian, does not stop with that experience. In fact there is never an end to the blessings that come along with that first step. You see Christianity is not a religion, it is a relationship with Jesus Christ our Savior, the one who came and suffered and died on the cross for us. So we have a communicating relationship with God. Jesus said “My sheep hear my voice”. He came and taught the disciples how to live, to get the most out of the life He gave us. He left a record of that information for you and I, It is called the Bible.
Growth comes when we read that Word and choose to live our lives by what it says. Many people try to change the Bible to fit their lifestyle, so they can continue doing what they want to do. Then they try and make themselves believe they will somehow get to go to heaven on their own terms. However the Bible teaches us how to change our lifestyle to the truth of the Bible. If a person is truly saved, born again by the Spirit of God, they will desire to live on God’s terms. Jesus is the transformer. We could never clean up our lives in our own power. He wants us to yield to him and let Him transform us , His way. He just wants a willing vessel.
Once we have moved into the Kingdom of God, we have become His child, now it is time to begin the maturing process. “I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not conform to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” [Rom.12:1-2]. We want to be willing for God to form us into what He created us to be, so we present our bodies to Him as a sacrifice.
The sacrifice is yielding to what He shows us that He wants us to do. That brings us into being holy and special to Him. Not perfect, but on the right path. That is our reasonable service. In other words, that is the least we can do in thankfulness for all He did for us. Then do not conform or allow ourselves to be pressed into being like the people who do not know Jesus. We remove the old USB ports of our brain and inject the I-Tunes of Christianity. Start downloading the word of God into all the hard-drives of our mind. By that, we prove to our friends and relatives that we truly have had a change in our life. Living the life of Christ is the only way we can win others to Him. That is proof of true growth, when we produce fruit. It is "Christian Growth"
