Good morning and welcome in everyone. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
Up here in the woods, a lot of people come up to their cabins from all across the state. They come up to fish, to hunt or just to relax for a week. But in the springtime, many of these small dirt roads get extremely muddy, leaving huge ruts. A lot of them are not maintained by a county grader, so people have to smooth out the roads on their own. After looking around their property, many people will eventually find one of their old box springs laying around. They will remove all of the fabric, hook it up to a chain, and pull it down the road with their four wheeler. Sometimes they will add a few cement blocks or old tires for some extra weight, which helps it to work even better. On a nice morning, when the road is a little bit soft, you will see an old box spring being dragged down the road, used for something completely different, then what it had been used for in the past.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
Although we began this life as sinners, God wants to use us for something different. He wants to convert us from sinners into His Saints. In the past we lived our lives a certain way, but now He wants us to change. He wants to use us for a completely different function and purpose. Although we have become accustomed to the way that we have lived in this world, we must allow our hearts to become converted, as God changes us into what He wants us to become, completely transformed into new creatures in Christ.
Matthew 18 ¹ At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? ² And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, ³ And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
In order to enter into eternal life, one must be converted. They must be converted to the will of God, and humbly submit to His new purpose for their lives. After all, that’s what the original Apostles did. Some of them were occupational fishermen, who gave up their jobs in order to become something completely different. God wanted them to become preachers of the Gospel and leaders of His church. Peter quickly admitted that he was a sinner, but God wanted him to be converted into something else.
Luke 5 ⁸ When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. ⁹ For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: ¹⁰ And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.
To convert means to change in form, character or function so it can be used in a different manner. This is exactly what the Apostle Paul did. As an unbeliever, he was once persecuting the church of Christ, but God wanted to use him for something different.
Acts 26 ¹⁴ And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. ¹⁵ And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. ¹⁶ But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; ¹⁷ Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, ¹⁸ To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. ¹⁹ Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: ²⁰ But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.
Many times the older that people get, the harder it can become to change gears. They become set in their ways like mortar in a foundation. But the Christian Life is entirely about change. It is changing into something better than what we used to be in the past, transformed from a man of the world, into a man of God.
Ephesians 4 ²² That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; ²³ And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; ²⁴ And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
In order to enter into eternal life, people must be converted to the truth. They must depart from iniquity and walk in the light. Many of the religious leaders were getting upset that Jesus was eating with publicans and other sinners, but it is they who were humbly seeking to become something new. They understood where they had come from, and were ashamed of their past. They were ready to become something different, renouncing sin in order to become obedient to Christ. One of the first steps of the Christian Life is humbly accepting what you really are, a sinner. It is only then, that you can change directions, and take a different path. It is only then, that you can become something better than what you were before. It is only then, that God can transform a sinner into a saint, blotting out our sinful past in order to clear the way for a new person to emerge. Through God’s mercy, we can undergo a rebirth through faith, and begin a new life in Christ Jesus.
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17
Colossians 3 ⁹ Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; ¹⁰ And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
To truly love your neighbor as yourself is to want to rescue their soul from death. It is a Christian’s responsibility to convert others from the err of their way.
James 5 ¹⁹ Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; ²⁰ Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.
Conversion is being used for something different. Although we are all sinners, God wants us to become a Saint, and in order to do this, we need to humbly submit to His guidance and direction. He wants to use us for a completely different purpose.
Maybe this spring you’ll see a four-wheeler leveling their driveway with something that you didn’t expect to see, a drag that was converted from an old….
….. Box Spring
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody. ❤️
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Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 