July 15, 2002  

Time for a Change?

A middle-aged sheep-farmer grumbled to a friend of his as they sat on the front porch after a long day's work: "My father raised sheep on this farm, and my grandfather before him. And look at me--same old thing."

His friend observed, "Sounds like you're going through one of them mid-life crises."

"I dunno," said the shepherd. "I've got to try something else before I'm too old."

"Like what?" asked the friend.

There was a pause, as the farmer stroked his beard; then the response, "Cows maybe."
***
We live in a world of great opportunity. We're told we can be anything we want. And yet, we're just as cautious in our choices as that old sheep farmer. We're always deciding to make changes, but they're usually tentative little baby steps.

We might think of changing from "sheep" to "cows," but we can't imagine leaving the farm and going to the big city, or to Africa, or to Mars.

"Wait a minute. Mars? You're getting a little far out, aren't you Preacher?"

Not as far out as God expects us to get. When he talks about change, he means CHANGE!

"If anyone is in Christ, that person is a new creation; everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" (II Corinthians 5:17)

The change that comes over a person who accepts God's salvation is so radical that Jesus referred to it as being "born again" (John 3:3-7). An entirely new person comes into existence.

The full truth of this can only be seen by God. After you receive God's salvation, you look in the mirror and see the same face; you have the same memories; you experience the same feelings. But this is an illusion. From God's vantage point, the old, worn-out, stained person is gone. A fresh, new, vibrant person has come into being. That's you. Same fingerprints, same DNA, but spiritually, "a new creation."

The sheep farmer's friend should tell him about Jesus. He can be totally changed right there on his front porch. He can wake up the next morning and tend the same flock of dumb and dusty sheep. But he himself can be as different from yesterday's "him" as a Martian.

Why change from "sheep" to "cows" when you yourself can become a totally new person?

Pray about it. Maybe you're ready for a real mid-life crisis.

–Pastor George VanAlstine