“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.” Acts 3:19.
Conversion is difficult. The Greek word, epistrepho, means to turn. Years ago, a train loaded with Cadillacs ran through Cincinnati. A critical overpass was too low and, one by one, it sheared off scores of cars before the engineer stopped it. We learn from physical science that it takes an equal amount of energy to stop an object as to start it. Also, the faster an object goes, the harder it is to stop it, and stopping it does not mean that it is going to go in the right direction. The law of inertia is still in effect. (Things in motion tend to stay in motion; things at rest tend to stay at rest.) Momentum can carry an object straight to its own destruction. Even if a conscious effort is made object to stop or avert a crash, its speed may be too great to overcome. The greater the mass, the more difficult to start or stop an object. Resistance is the only force that can make an object stop or change directions. For an object to stop and reverse its direction, it must meet with a greater, but opposite power.
Many people have been down so long that they think they are forever stuck at the bottom. Drugs say you cannot change. So does alcohol, lust or major character flaws. Your track record of defeat after defeat militates against change. “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil.” Jeremiah 13:23. No man has ever been deeper in twisted character flaws than Jacob. He was a liar, a cheater, a thief, a deceiver. He cheated his own brother and deceived his father. “So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, ‘The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.’” Genesis 27:42. Jacob found out that sin always takes you where you don’t want to go, keeps you longer than you want to stay, and makes it harder that you thought it would be to get back. But, it’s victim before victory, test before testimony, and mess before message!
Jesus Christ supplies the power great enough to change your life. He can stop you in your tracks, regardless of how long or how fast you’ve been going in the wrong direction. He can overcome any resistance to change. He is the original source; the creative force; the irresistible power; the life-changer, the way-maker, the irrepressible energy, the undeniable logic. “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8.
Faith provides the reason to change. Repentance opens the door to change. Baptism in Jesus’ name frees you up for the change. The Holy Ghost baptism infuses you with the power to change. When Peter and John met the lame man at the Beautiful Gate in Acts 3, they delivered a message of hope. First, the man was willing to think that something could happen! Then, he experienced the power of God working in his body! “And immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.” Acts 3:7. He acted differently after the change! “And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.” Acts 3:9. When change begins to take place in a person’s life, resistance begins to work against them. The carnal nature resists change. The world around you resists change. The devil resists change. The people around you resist change. It’s time to make a declaration of independence. Declare yourself a candidate for change!
“Though you cannot go back and make a brand-new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new end.” The longer you wait, the more difficult it will be. Waiting will not increase your chances to change. A better solution doesn’t exist than the Gospel of Jesus Christ!