Never The Same

There are events in a person’s life that will change them forever; the person will never be the same as they were before the event. The event could be as big as the birth of a child; the death of a loved one; or even as simple as graduating from high school or a college. These events leave an impression on a person. The person they were before the event will change somewhat who they are or how they view life. I remember when Teresa was giving birth to Ripley; I was encouraging her to breath and I heard the doctor say, “Here she comes.” I looked down in time to see Ripley come out and I thought, “Wow, I’m really a Daddy.” I knew I was going to be and had prepared for it but to see the birth of Ripley changed everything for me. My life has never been the same since; in a good way.

Encounters can do the same to people. If you encounter a thief in your house or on the street, it changes you. If you encounter true evil (i.e. being rapped, seeing a murder, killing someone else, etc.) it changes you. Just as encountering evil will change you, encountering true love will leave a mark as well.

Reading the gospels, we see how when people encountered Jesus they never left being the same as they were before they encountered Him. We have many examples of this in the 4 gospels and in Acts; the 12 disciples, Paul, the woman at the well, the woman caught in adultery, Pilate, the Jewish leaders, the Roman centurion, . . . These people were never the same after they encountered Jesus. Some accepted Him as God in the flesh and some did not, but all were forever changed.

When a person encounters Jesus and accepts what He did for them on the cross; taking their sins on Himself and freeing them from the bondage of sin, they are never ever the same. Jesus will take someone who is dirty and loathsome in sin, and make them clean and loved. Whatever label people have on them - drug addict, alcoholic, dumb, slut, bastard - encountering Jesus changes them and a new label is given - loved, holy, righteous, royalty – and they will never be the same again.