My Past Put Behind Me
I found an old book of sermons in our church library the other day, by W. Herschel Ford, a Baptist preacher from Texas in the early 1900s. One of his sermons was called “Since Jesus Came Into My Heart” and I found it very powerful, so I thought I would share some of his words with you in this week’s devotions.
Transformation Through Jesus: Leaving the Past Behind
Ford explains that when Jesus comes into someone’s heart, things happen. And the first thing that happens is that in Christ we have the opportunity to leave our past behind, and become new in Him.
Titus 3:3 says “At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another” (Titus 3:3 NIV). Notice that Paul is speaking in the past tense here. We used to live this way, he says. That was our past, before Jesus came into our hearts. But when Jesus comes in, he changes us so that our sinful ways can be put behind us, in our past.
Ford tells the story of Dr Charles E. Fuller, a radio preacher, who was on a plane one day when the woman next to him asked if he was the man she’d heard on the radio. He told her that he was. Then she said “I have been waiting to see you and thank you for what you did for our home. My husband was a fine man, but he was drinking heavily. For years I prayed for his salvation. One Sunday morning he happened to be sober. He sat down by the radio and heard your broadcast. When you finished your message he fell on his knees by the radio and gave his heart to Christ. He later joined the church and since that time our home has been a little bit of heaven on earth.”
All of us have sins and faults. All of us need Jesus in our hearts, because when he fills the place that these things used to take, we have no need for them anymore! Ford says this in his sermon: “the apostle says that these are the things of the past – disobedience toward God and indulgence in the sins of the flesh… these sins were put away in his life. Have you put them away?”
Reflecting on Our Past: Embracing Transformation
That’s a heavy question. And perhaps today you need to sit with God in the quiet and answer that question honestly. Perhaps you have not put away the things of your past, even though he has given you the power to do it, when he came into your heart.
Oh what joy we find, when we invite Jesus in, and we leave our pasts behind and build a new life with Him at the centre! Today friends, take some time to be sure that your past is in the past, and that you’re not dragging it along with you into the present.
Because the good news is that with Christ in your life, you can say I used to live that way, but now He has freed me!
