Before and After
By Jana Wilson
From time to time on Fridays, Christ Compels brings in some dear friends to write guest devotions with us. This Friday, please help us welcome Jana Wilson.
“But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.”
. Acts 8:3
“All those who heard him were astonished and asked, ‘Isn't he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn't he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?’ Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.”
Acts 9:21-22
We’ve all seen the infomercials with the before and after picture - how a person’s picture looks before then after. Do you realize you have a before and after picture with Jesus? Paul certainly did. Before Christ, Paul was out exposing people who lived for Christ. After Christ, Paul was proclaiming Jesus is the Messiah.
Over the course of my life, people have said to me, “You don’t look the same. There is something different about you.” I didn’t fully understand what they were talking about until several months ago when I ran into the mother of a childhood friend. I haven’t seen her in more than 20 years. She didn’t recognize me until I told her my name. Her comment to me was, “You don’t look the same.” It was at that moment I began to realize what Jesus had done in my life.
Over the next few days, I thought about her comment. Jesus brought to mind two pictures that my husband and I had been looking at. The two pictures were of my sister, my brother, and me. My husband commented on the second picture, “You look different here. Your face is more relaxed, your eyes are brighter, and your smile is not forced like in the other picture.” When I look at those two pictures, I can see a difference. Jesus is the difference. He began working on the inside of me (before) and made a difference on the outside (after).
Each one of us has a before picture with Christ and an after picture with Christ. Can you look back over your life and see the difference? Maybe in the way you dress or look? Take a good look. I guarantee there is a before and after look.
Pray with us at Christ Compels: Dear Lord, we praise You! You are almighty! You are marvelous! Your ways are higher than our ways. Your thoughts are higher than our thoughts. Thank You, Lord, that we can be changed. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we are a new creation. We don’t look the same. The evidence is in our outward appearance. Our faces become lighter. Our eyes become brighter. You make a difference that is evident to those who knew us before we had You.
For those people whom we meet in our “after” time, they will only know what You have done if we tell them. They won’t be able to recognize the “before” Christ us. So overflow out of us and give us the words to tell them. Let us testify of all that You have done and bring glory to You! We pray all of this in the precious name of Your Son, Jesus Christ! Amen