Captured By Christ

Ever have a radical change of direction? What caused it? Why did you do it? Was it a mistake or was it worth the effort? 

The Apostle Paul was a respected leader with a promising future. In fact he says he was advancing beyond many of his contemporaries and colleagues. But something happened in his life that made him make a radical change of direction for his life.   This change not only affected him, but millions of people who came after him, up to this day. 

Consider for a moment what it would be like for you to have set your goals, plotted the course of your life and be well on the way to success.  You have the recognition of your peers and the acclaim and benefits that go with it. You've worked hard and it is really starting to pay  off, dreams are coming to fruition and things look very good.  Then, when things seem to be at their best, you turn from it all to pursue something that has captured your hearts affection like nothing before.  Friends and family wonder why. Peer pressure is enormous to reconsider, but you press on pursuing your new direction against many hardships and trials. That's what happened to Paul.

What captured his heart and moved him to make such a decision was an encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ had entered his life, and Saul who once persecuted the new thing called Christianity, not became Paul, the Apostle, missionary and great theologian of the new religion. His entire life, value system, priorities, relationships were all forever changed and re-oriented. In fact, he wrote," Whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for Whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ."

The effect on Paul when he encountered Christ was life changing for him, and it is the same for anyone who receives Jesus as Lord and Savior. After a true encounter with Christ, we are simply not the same when we experience the forgiveness for sins. The world is now viewed from a new perspective that affects priorities, our values, relationships and yes, our entire life.  We may not have been very religious before, but now Jesus Christ becomes the most important Person in life.  We find that everything revolves around Him.  

That is what happened to Paul and we can know that same transformation and radical life change. Believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, trust Him to be your Savior, and then follow Him as Lord.  Your situation may not change as radically as Paul's did, but Christ will certainly capture your hearts affection in the same way. There's no doubt about that. He will become all in all for you, just as He has for millions of people before you and me.  It is only when our heart is captured in this way, that we really experience devotion and true freedom.