Becoming a New Creation

We had to take my father to the ER on Thursday night.  After a 3 hour wait just to get into an examination room, we found out he needed a blood transfusion and a platelet transfusion.  My parents ended up going to the ER just before having dinner.  He had been saying that he was craving certain snacks, so just before midnight, I went out in search of them.  I slipped into a grocery store just before closing and was the last customer of the night. 

The young man at the cash register asked me if I was getting a snack after being at the hospital.  I told him about my Dad's leukemia and how we were going to be there for several more hours.  His Grandmother had just passed away the month before from leukemia he told me.  This common thread brought us to the topic of where he stood with Jesus.  We talked about religion and how it was man's futile way of reaching God, and how by believing in Jesus, we could be connected to Him in a relationship all through the work that Jesus did on the cross and not by any effort of ours.  A friend of his who had been raised Catholic and had begun going to a bible teaching church, had already been sharing with him.  I too was raised Catholic and I told him about the change that had taken place in my life from reading the bible.  Just like the metamorphosis of a butterfly, I too had become a new creation. 

Several co-workers were demanding his attention during our conversation.  He needed to walk me out and lock the door behind me.  So at the door, I just took the risk and asked him if he wanted to ask Jesus into his heart.  "Yes, I want to, but I don't know how."  "Repeat after me,"  I said, and he gave his life to Jesus. 

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new...2 Corinthians 5:17