Ready for Change

Change scares a lot of people, especially within the church. And maybe they have some good reasons. We shouldn't change things that are concrete in God's Word just for the sake of having something new; I'll agree with that. But there is a sort of change that we need. Not just a change in traditions. I'm not talking about having Wednesday night Bible studies on Tuesdays, or having the Lord's Supper before or after the sermon. I'm talking about a revolution. Have our lives been changed at all since we met Jesus?
In the New Testament, change is rampant. Jesus was revolutionizing religion. Some people get set in their ways about things, but if you look at Jesus, He was anti-traditional. He preached several times against traditions, actually. But the changes that He brought were not only in theology, but in hearts, and in lives.
When Jesus issued to the Pharisees to "cast the first stone" about a woman caught in adultery, what did He then tell the woman? "Go, and sin no more." When Jesus drove Legion from the demoniac by the river, what did He tell the man? "Go, and tell everyone what God has done for you." Jesus had people's lives drastically changed on a daily basis. When people were touched by the Savior, they couldn't help but to be changed! Look at Zacchaeus. "Lord, I'm going to give half of everything I have to the poor, and anyone that I've cheated out of money, I'll repay them 400%." There's a revolution in a heart! In Acts 8, the Ethiopian Eunuch met Jesus through Philip and his explanation of Isaiah. And what did the eunuch do? "He went on His way rejoicing!" You couldn't come in contact with Jesus and leave unaltered. Has that changed in today's times?
People come to Jesus and walk away the same person every day. That's really strange, and that's really sad. I guess people just don't see Jesus as real and true anymore. We've lost our convictions of the cause. Jesus has just been a story that people hear from birth; and when they're old enough for faith, they're still, unfortunately, just seeing it as a story. Or people sometimes come to Jesus only so they can check a few things off of their Things-I-Need-To-Do-To-Make-Me-Feel-Good-About-Myself list. Is that all Jesus is to us today?
I hope and pray that's not the case for me.
I mess up. I make a load of mistakes; the Lord can tell you that I'm chief in the sin department. But I'm going to try every day to make sure that my life is changed, no, is revolutionized, by Jesus Christ. I want to go on my way rejoicing; I want to go and sin no more; I want to go and show that my life is changed and my heart's contrite because of it.
But I'll never do it by myself. It's not, "Get your life right and come to God." Instead it's, "Come to God, and let Him make your life right."