subject: Life and Light: Conversion of Life from a Christian Perspective [print this page] This is why Christ died for sins once for all, a just man for the sake of the unjust: so that he could lead you to God
Throughout Old Testament history, God made covenants with his people that they would be his people and he would be their God. These covenants revolved around Israel's obedience and God's faithfulness and protection over them. Again and again, however, the people turned away from God and gave themselves to idolatry. They spurned the law, and ignored the prophet's call to repentance. Yet God loved his people so much that he continued to offer them forgiveness, calling them back to himself.
God's mercy culminated in his son coming to establish the kingdom of God. As Mark relates in his gospel:
"Jesus appeared in Galilee proclaiming God's good news: this is the time of fulfillment. The reign of God is at hand! Reform your lives and believe in the good news."
Jesus came to bring a new covenant based on repentance and conversion, a covenant that would bring us into a new relationship with the Father. Conversion to the kingdom of God requires that we repent of our sin, that we be converted in both our hearts and our minds.
Are we converted to Jesus Christ? How can we tell? What are the signs of conversion?
The first sign is the place that God and the things of God have in our lives. Where is our treasure?
In St. Luke's Gospel, Chapter 12, verses 32 34, Jesus says, "Do not be afraid, little flock because your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell all your belongings and give the money to the poor. Provide for yourselves purses that don't wear out, and save your riches in heaven, where they will never decrease, because no thief can get to them, no moth can destroy them. For your heart will always be where your riches are."
Are all of our riches in earthly things like houses, cars, clothes, expensive vacations that force us to work overtime to earn the money required Are we so busy about all these things that prayer, serving others and getting to know the Lord, take last place?
The second sign that we are converted to Jesus Christ is the willingness we demonstrate to renounce whatever needs renouncing in order for us to enter the kingdom of God.
Sometimes as in case of the apostles Jesus calls us to a radical renunciation as in Luke, Chapter 18, verse 29 wherein Jesus answers Peter's statement, "Look! We have left our homes to follow you!"
"Yes," Jesus said to them, "and I tell you this: anyone who leaves home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the Kingdom of God will receive much more in this present age, and eternal life in the age to come"
Is Jesus telling us to desert our families? Of course not! But he is saying that our relationship with God comes first even above our duty to our families. It is true that we serve God by serving our families but we must not allow our daily tasks to so overwhelm us that there just is no time to pull apart to be alone with the Lord or to focus exclusively on him during family prayer.
Conversion to Jesus is a continuing process we have entered the kingdom of God through Baptism, but we must allow that kingdom to grow within us our entire lives.
We will know that we are on the right track if we long for the work of the Holy Spirit if we look forward to our daily prayer time with the Lord if we are basically loving persons who try to do good for others as we meet these others in our daily lives.
Being converted to Jesus does not mean that we are perfect it only means that we are on our way. We may expect to experience setbacks, falls from grace due to human weakness. We may have a continuing problem with being harsh in our criticism of others, or we may be sexually weak and give in to impulses that bring temporary pleasure but lasting grief. For some persons the desire for power and wealth drives them and causes them to fall. Whatever our weakness is we have to look at the overall pattern of our lives to really know if we are being converted to Jesus. If the overall pattern of our lives is good if there is much more that is positive in our lives than negative then we are growing in the kingdom of God. And our weaknesses are simply that human frailties to be overcome by God's grace working in us over time our task is to persevere and not let ourselves so focus on our weaknesses that we overlook our strengths and give up the struggle.
Daily life is a series of new beginnings, of dyings and risings and Lent is symbolic of life it is a time to recall our Baptisms to think of flowing, cleansing, water that washes us clean physically and spiritually that gives us the opportunity to begin again.
We need to recall over and over that the water which gave us new birth in Baptism also forms a rainbow of hope that through belief in Jesus Christ, through accepting him as Lord and Savior we indeed are saved and are destined for eternal life in his kingdom.
Life and Light: Conversion of Life from a Christian Perspective
