Day by Day

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"The Way to Life"

The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23
   

A construction company repairing bridges and roads at Arcadia, Missouri, put up a sign of its own that said: “Slow Down or Die.” The state highway department called it “irregular,” that is, different from the kind of warning signs it puts up.

It is all too true that many highway deaths are caused by excessive speed and the lack of caution.

In all of life some people die because they don’t slow down in their work, their energy-draining lifestyle, or their use of alcohol and drugs. The message to them, in plain words, is: “Slow Down or Die.”

The same applies to our spiritual life, so often beset by sin. The prophet Ezekiel states: “The soul that sins shall die” (see Ezekiel 18:20). Nothing is said that it is not only accelerated sinning that brings death; slow, infrequent sinning does the same. This includes all of us. The warning sign of God’s law is very plain on this.

So we need another sign – the sign of the Gospel. It declares: Because Jesus died, you live. Because He rose again, you can rise daily from the tomb of spiritual sin and death, and you will on the Last Day take part in the bodily resurrection. Because the Holy Spirit comes to you through the Gospel, you have faith. That is good news, and how you rejoice to hear it, see it, and read it as you journey through life!

Someone traveling on a highway saw a sign at a church that read: “The wages of sin is death.” He mused to himself that such a church message was incomplete – it could give people the wrong impression of Christianity. On his return trip he read what was written on the other side of the sign, namely: “But the gift of God is eternal life.” This was the second part of the quotation from Romans 6:23. This is the message of the Gospel.

As we travel through life, we need both signs – the one that says, “If you keep on sinning, you’ll die,” and the other one, too: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will live.”

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"Right Thoughts, Right Deeds"

"When He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth." John 16:13
   

In a Sunday prayer the worshipers ask God that “by your holy inspiration we may think the things that are right and by Your merciful guidance accomplish them.”

We have always known that in everyday life right doing follows right thinking. If you think you must go ten miles west and five miles north to reach your destination, then that is what you are going to do. If a golfer has wrong ideas about the game, he will make wrong shots.

Terrible things have been done in the name of religion because people had the wrong thoughts. “A time is coming,” said Jesus to His disciples, “when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God” (John 16:2). An example of this is Saint Paul, who as Saul the Pharisee persecuted Christians because he thought this was God’s will.

How necessary that we, led by the Holy Spirit, devote ourselves to right learning, right knowing, and right thinking so that there can be Spirit-led believing, followed by right doing! Knowledge and faith go together like horse and carriage. We need to know that in love for all mankind God gave His Son, Jesus Christ, as an offering for sin and then to believe that God so loved me.

Right knowing and believing then result in right doing. True faith always bears fruit: good works. God’s people acknowledge that the weakness of sin is still in them, that often there is a slip between the cup and the lip, that wanting to do the right thing doesn’t always lead to doing it. So they ask for God’s help, namely, that by His guidance they may accomplish their God-pleasing thoughts, plans, and resolutions. God answers that prayer. He strengthens His people through Word and sacrament to do His will. The kingdom of God grows when right thoughts are translated into right deeds.

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"The Homecoming that Precedes Ours"

While [Jesus] was blessing them, He left them and was taken up into heaven. Luke 24:51
   

Homecoming is usually a happy occasion. It is that for college alumni returning to their alma mater, for family members reunited after an absence, for persons who completed their assignments and can come home again. A well-known song from the Civil war era expresses happiness at the thought of a soldier’s homecoming. A hearty welcome awaits him: “The church bell will peal with joy; the laurel [wreath] is ready now to grace his loyal brow.”

There was joy when the Son of God, having completed His work on earth, returned home in triumph. Jesus’ ascension, 40 days after His resurrection, marked His heavenly homecoming. Saint Paul wrote of it: “He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe” (Ephesians 4:10). He, the Maker of all things, now resumed His throne in heaven to rule the universe. Sitting at the Father’s right hand, He especially governs and protects the church, of which He is the Head.

But our Lord’s ascension was more than a homecoming. This event was to have a sequel. Before He left, He promised to return, saying: “If I go to prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:3). That place, He explained, is His Father’s house of many rooms. On the mount of the ascension the angel repeated the promise: “This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). That “same way” is not only a visible return, but also one in power and great glory. The Savior’s homecoming occasioned joy both in heaven and on earth. We are told that the disciples “returned to Jerusalem with great joy” (Luke 24:52). They continually praised God, both at the temple and in the Upper Room, awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit. For us, too, the ascension is a festival of joy. We are happy over Jesus’ triumph and for His promise to come back to take us home.

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"Soaring on Eagles’ Wings"

[God] satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Psalm 103:5
   

In certain times of the year people go to Clarksville, Missouri, on the Mississippi River, to see the flock of bald eagles gathered there. They bring along field glasses to see better. But the eagles, sharp-eyed, need no such equipment.

Besides their good sight, the Bible ascribes other qualities to eagles: the strength of their wings, the swiftness of flight, the renewal of vigor, the attainment of old age. All this was known also to the ancient Romans who chose the “aquila,” the eagle, as a symbol on the standards of their legions.

Through Moses, God reminded His people, “You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself” (Exodus 19:4). It was as though God had used eagles as His air force to deliver His people from bondage.

The goodness of God to individual persons is described in Psalm 103 in these terms: “He satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s." The reference is probably to an eagle renewing its life through molting.

What people have perhaps most admired a bout eagles is their ability to soar majestically at high altitudes. They rise high above the earthly scene and direct our sight to heaven above. This may be the reason why Saint John’s gospel is symbolized by an eagle. Someone has said, “From first to last his gospel soars on eagles’ wings to the throne of heaven.” With what loftier note and soaring power could Saint John have begun his testimony of Jesus than this one: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1)? Grace and truth, the love of God bringing salvation, forgiveness, eternal life – this comes to us through Jesus Christ, the Son of God offered on Calvary’s cross for our sins.

Believing in Jesus as God’s eternal Word enables us to soar like eagles on the wings of faith.

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"The Nazarene in Nain"

[Jesus} said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” Luke 7:14
   

Nazareth and Nain are only about five miles apart. Jesus the Nazarene may have been personally acquainted with the widow whose only son was being carried to his grave.

The Nazarene comes to Nain as a true man – one who in human compassion tells the mother, “Do not weep.” Because of His true human nature He can “sympathize with our weaknesses” (Hebrews 4:15) because He in every respect experienced life’s ups and downs, its joys and sorrows, even death itself. He differs from us only in that He is sinless.

The Nazarene comes to Nain also as true God. This means: He can do more than offer condolences because, to use William Cullen Bryant’s expression, “a youth in life’s green spring” has been claimed by death; He can remove the cause for sorrow by raising the widow’s son from death, for Jesus Christ is the Lord of life and death.

Our Lord overcame death on that day when, outside Jerusalem’s walls, another widowed mother, Mary, saw her Son taken away by death on a cross. But He was to rise again by the same power that raised the youth at Nain from death. Thus the Nazarene, who is true man and true God, “destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light” (2 Timothy 1:10).

Jesus approaches us today in places small and great: in towns and townships, in cities and communities. He comes through the Word and the sacraments, sending also His Holy Spirit through them. And when He comes, He brings blessings, as He Himself declares, “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20).

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"God Works Through Means"

Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the Word of Christ. Romans 10:17
   

The psalmist tells God: “The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food at the proper time. You open Your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing” (Psalm 145:15-16). People may wonder about this. Does God really appear on the scene to feed His creatures – human beings, animals, birds?

God does indeed provide, but He generally does it through means. We can learn this from observing a pair of finches. While the female bird sits on the nest and incubates the eggs, the mail brings her food. Later the nestlings will be fed by the parent birds. God has written this instinct into the birds so that they do His work in providing for each other.

In the book of Job the question is asked: “Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God?” (Job 38:41). The psalmist gives this answer: “He [God] provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call” (Psalm 147:9). God does it through the bounty of nature – through the grasses and grains and through His helpers: parents who provide for the young.

That is how God provides for you and me. He works through means. Yes, He could do it through astounding miracles, as when He fed the Israelites with manna from heaven or as when Jesus fed the multitudes miraculously. But even in the latter case our Lord used means: bread and fish.

In our lives God likewise provides for us by giving us sunshine and rain, strength and health so that we can work. He gives us fathers and mothers and other persons as His agents. They provide for us in His behalf: It is God who gives us daily bread and other blessings.

God works through means to feed also our souls. He nourishes us spiritually through His Word, through the Gospel of Christ’s redemption. The Gospel is the power of God for salvation to all who believe it. God speaks through it. Are you listening?

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"A Changed Contest"

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. Romans 16:20
   

Second in command during the bombardment of Fort Sumter, where the Civil War began, was Captain Abner Doubleday, who set off the first cannon shot. The same man is credited with inventing the game of baseball, a much more peaceful pursuit. Baseballs replaced cannonballs.

In ancient times swords and spears were used in warfare. The prophets Isaiah and Micah foretold the conversion of these weapons into tools for peaceful pursuits: “They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore” (Isaiah 2:4; Micah 4:3).

The truth of the matter is that since these words were written nations have developed much deadlier weapons of war. Yet the words of the prophets are truthful. God’s Word is never spoken in vain. The message of God’s great love for the world is a positive influence within and among the nations. Who can say how much worse worldly hostilities would be if no Gospel had ever been proclaimed?

The Gospel begins with God’s peace in Jesus Christ. The spiritual warfare between a righteous God and a sinful, disobedient human race has ended. In Christ, who atoned for sin, God and sinners are reconciled. All who accept this forgiveness are changed persons. They now strive to serve God and work for peace in the world. Think of Saul the Pharisee, who once used the sword to kill Christians. After his conversion to Saint Paul the apostle, he used the Word of God, the sword of the Spirit, to bring people to Christ. He and many others are the fulfillment of the prophecy: “They will beat their swords into plowshares.”

Abner Doubleday has taught us to use bats for hitting baseballs, not as clubs for killing people. The world will be a better place when more such changes occur.

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"We Must Appear"

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. 2 Corinthians 5:10
   

Do you know where the expression “facing the music” comes from? The story begins in medieval Japan with a man who wanted the prestige that came from being a performer in the Imperial orchestra. But there was a minor glitch: He couldn’t play an instrument. Yet he knew what he wanted and pulled every possible string to accomplish his purposes. Against his better judgment, the orchestra’s conductor consented to let the man into the ensemble. He gave him a flute, sat him in the most inconspicuous seat, and instructed him to try and fit in. With each musical number, our man dutifully raised his instrument, puckered his lips, moved his fingers, and pretended to blow. He went through the motions, but not a tweet ever escaped his flute.

This deception might have continued indefinitely, undetected, had it not been for the appointment of a new conductor. This man’s first act was to tell his musicians that each of them would have to audition. One by one the players auditioned and were restored to their positions. Eventually all finished, except for the fake flutist. Frantic with worry, he claimed to be sick. The doctor pronounced him “fit as a fiddle.” Finally the time came for the audition. The flutist, unable to face the music, lost his position, his salary, his home, his future.

Now, there are a number of ways people prepare to face Judgment Day’s music. Some gamble there is no God. They believe somehow, in some way, everything created itself. Without God, they hold to the theory that the universe is the product of accidents. Others think, “God is so good that He will never condemn sin. And, if He does, I’m okay, because I lead a pretty good life.” To that I can only reply, the Bible is consistent in saying the Lord is coming and all of us will have to appear before Jesus the Judge. Will you be ready to face the music?

You can be ready. Through God-given faith in Jesus’ cleansing blood, sinful souls can become prepared to face the music. Yes, you can try to run. But the day will come when you won’t be able to run anymore. On that day, your Savior will want to know, “Do you believe?” If the answer is “yes,” you have life eternal. If your answer is anything else … well, you will just have to face the music.

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"A New Creation"

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:17-18
   

Two men attending a convention committed every transgression they could. Traveling to the airport, a sinfully sacrilegious idea came to one of them: Why not top off the trip with a shockingly scandalous bit of irreverence? “I dare you to go into the first church we come to and confess everything you did last night. I’ll bet $100 you can’t do it,” he challenged. His companion accepted by saying, “Sounds like easy money to me.”

The first church they came to was Catholic. The man found the priest and began, “Father, forgive me for I have sinned.” In graphic detail, he told of his escapades. The perceptive priest, discerning the man’s insincerity, replied, “My friend, I give you a simple penance. Go to the front of the church, kneel before the statue of Jesus, look into the Savior’s suffering face, see the nails in His hands and feet, the crown of thorns on His head, and say, ‘Jesus, all this You suffered for me, and I couldn’t care less.’ ”

The man came out of the confessional and demanded his friend pay up. He replied, “First, do your penance.” The confessor went to the altar, looked up to the Christ on the crucifix and facetiously began, “Jesus all this You did for me and I …” At that moment something he had learned, and ignored, flooded his head and heart. He cleared his throat and tried again, “Lord Jesus, all this You did for me …” Then he burst into tears and the Savior Christ reclaimed and redeemed a lost soul. That man, by the power of the Holy Spirit, became a new creature.

Scripture says if you are in Christ, you are a new creation. So, are you? You can find power in the cross and hope at Jesus’ empty tomb. Human hearts that are hardened find themselves convicted and converted. At the cross, sufferers find solace, repentants find redemption, and the unforgiven find freedom.

You can do just about anything to the cross and the empty tomb, except ignore them. You can’t disregard the cross upon which your sins were crucified. You can’t discount an empty grave that says, “Here death has been defeated.” Why? Because the cross and the empty grave are God’s power to create a new creature (1 Corinthians 1:23-24).

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"Standing Firm"

“All men will hate you because of Me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” Mark 13:13
   

A minister was preaching about Judgment Day. He roared from the pulpit, “There will be wars and famines and earthquakes! The sun shall be darkened and the stars will fall from the sky! On that day, will you be ready? On that day, what will you want?” His attention captured, a wide-eared little boy tugged at his mother’s sleeve. “Mommy,” he whispered, “I know what I want on that Judgment Day. I want the Board of Education to call off school.”

Do you know what you want when Judgment Day comes? Everybody wants to be prepared for the unknown. So they might get an edge on the unknown, the ancient Greeks made pilgrimages to the Oracle at Delphi. So they might be prepared for the unknown tomorrow, the Romans read the entrails of sacrificed animals. Today people prefer to consult sophisticated methods of divination like the psychic hotline and their newspaper’s horoscope. To be prepared for the unknown, we take out health insurance, house insurance, medical insurance, business insurance, car insurance, and funeral insurance. Sadly, no matter how much time, worry, and cash we invest in our preparations for the unknown, we can never really be ready.

What I can tell you is that Judgment Day is coming. When? I don’t know. Nobody knows. You can forget the experts’ calculations and the theologians’ opinions. Jesus is going to come, how did Peter say it, like a “thief in the night” (2 Peter 3:10). Saint Paul wrote the same thing to the church in Thessalonica: “Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:1-3). So the question “when will Judgment Day come?” does have an answer: We don’t know.

Just because you don’t know when Judgment Day is coming, doesn’t mean you have to be unprepared. You can be ready. How? Paul tells us: “Let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:8-9).

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"You Just Never Know"

The seers shall be disgraced, and the diviners put to shame; they shall all cover their lips, for there is no answer from God. Micah 3:7
   

There are some stories that are just too good not to make into a devotion. This is one of them. Last week, in Philadelphia, city inspectors shut down a large group of shops belonging to psychics, astrologers, and tarot card readers. In the days to come, they expect to shut down a few more shops.

The inspectors decided to make this almost unprecedented move when the police told them of a 30-year-old, almost forgotten law. What law? The city ruling that said it was a third-degree misdemeanor for anyone to practice fortunetelling “for gain or lucre.”

Now, you would think that if those psychics, astrologers, and tarot card readers were any good at their craft, they would have been given some kind of “spiritual” advance notice that city officials were coming. That didn’t happen. All these folks who claim they have a reliable and profitable ability to look into the future were caught completely by surprise. To paraphrase the Old Testament prophet, Micah, “the seers have been disgraced and the diviners put to shame.”

Now, I’m not saying that Satan, in his desire to turn people away from trusting in God, doesn’t give certain "insights" to some of these future-tellers. Although only God is omniscient, the devil has had considerable experience observing and appealing to human weaknesses. As a deceiver, he may be able to make some pretty educated guesses as to what we will do. Of course, those who do trust him will soon find they have been duped.

Still, it is a human weakness to try and ascertain the unknown future that God has decided to keep hidden. This is why I “predict” that Philadelphia will soon have new shops filled new fortune-tellers. On the other hand, I believe God’s people will not be swayed by Satan’s questionable insights and will follow the Lord’s truth. This is how the book of Proverbs says it:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. (3:5-7)

This leads me to conclude that while no one knows what the future holds for you today, believers in the Savior know He will be by our side. We know that the Christ is ready to hear us when we pray. He is ready to strengthen us when we are weak, and He is ready to uphold us when we stumble. No prediction here, just Jesus’ promises.

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"For the Thirsty: God’s Word and Prayer"

“Sir,” the woman said, “You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep.” John 4:11
   

John Newton, author of “Amazing Grace” and other hymns, once wrote to a theology student: “The chief means for attaining wisdom and suitable gifts for the ministry are Holy Scripture and prayer. The one is the fountain of living water, and the other is the bucket with which we are to draw.” This is good advice for all Christians.

The source of all truth is Holy Scripture. From it comes the refreshing Word. At Jacob’s well near a Samaritan village Jesus spoke the Word of God to a woman. He said: “The water I give him [the receptive hearer of the Word] will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14).

The Word of God that Jesus proclaimed does in turn proclaim Him as the source of all grace. Saint John writes in his gospel that Jesus, the Father’s one and only Son, was “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). He added: “From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another” (John 1:16). This is living water. The grace of Jesus, to which Holy Scripture bears witness, brings us salvation. Saint Paul tells us how Jesus’ grace applies to us: “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich:” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Jesus went into the desert of this world; He endured poverty and deprivation; He hungered and thirsted; He suffered death on the cross to bring us the refreshment of God’s forgiving grace.

At Jacob’s well the woman said that Jesus needed a vessel with which to draw water. All the blessings Jesus procured for us would do us no good unless we had faith in Him. Faith is the hand by which we receive God’s gifts and make them our own. The cup of faith holds the water of life. In faith we approach the throne of God in prayer. The hymn writer states: “Thou art coming to a King, Large petitions with thee bring.” And also bring along a large container! Bring a faith large enough to draw the water of life – grace and truth – from the fountain of God’s Word!

Are you thirsty? Be refreshed! Come to the fountain of Christ’s Gospel.

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"From Doubt to Faith"

Thomas said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” John 20:28
   

Doubt is often close to faith, as is rust to the finest steel. The psalmist momentarily doubted God’s goodness to him when he “saw the prosperity of the wicked” (Psalm 73:3). The father of a demon-possessed child confessed to Jesus that he moved between two opposite poles: “I believe; help my unbelief!” (see Mark 9:24). Doubt often shakes the confidence we should have when we pray. So Saint Paul wants us to lift up our hands in prayer without wrath and doubting (see 1 Timothy 2:.

Doubt, along with outright denial, is part of the Easter story. At the mountaintop meeting in Galilee the disciples worshiped the risen Christ present there, “but some doubted” (Matthew 28:17).

Doubt afflicted Thomas especially. Weighed down with grief, he said, “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe it” (John 20:25). To lay down a condition (“unless”) is to declare incipient unbelief. To predicate truth on the sight test and touch test is to leave out faith entirely.

The risen Lord changed the heart of Thomas by ministering to him. He conferred His peace on him. He urged him; “Be not faithless, but believing” (see John 20:27). And Thomas confessed, “My Lord and My God!”

Some who are Christians today had to make the transition from doubt to firm faith. They may have had problems with the miracles recorded in the Bible, or with Christ’s virgin birth, or with His resurrection from the dead. But as they searched the Scriptures diligently, they gained new perspectives. Christ became real to them as one who lives today. The Holy Spirit entered their hearts and said, “Let Me introduce you to Jesus, your Friend and Savior. He is for real.” Then they were convinced and exclaimed, each personally: “My Lord and My God!”

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"Faithful Stewards"

"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much.” Luke 16:10
   

In His parable of a shrewd manager as recorded in Luke 16, Jesus is not advocating clever business practices bordering on dishonesty. He is discussing Christian life as faithful stewardship. He points to a certain amount of consistency in human behavior. He who has a reliable character will be honest regardless of his line of work and the amount of responsibility entrusted to him. He will run true to form no matter where he lives, whether in New York, Kansas, or California.

The same consistent pattern of conduct is evident whether the person in question administers temporal or spiritual treasures – whether it be money (“the unrighteous mammon”) or things of intangible value such as knowledge, personal talents, gifts of the Spirit, God-given opportunities, and even the gift of salvation. Jesus declares, “If you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?” (Luke 16:11).

The question of ownership, whether the goods belong to others or to ourselves, doesn’t really matter. If we are good stewards of another’s property, we will be good stewards of our own, and God, knowing this, will bless us and may increase what is ours. On the other hand, says Jesus, “If you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?” (Luke 16:12).

What makes for faithful stewardship? Daily renewal in the likeness of Jesus Christ, who was faithful to all His commitments in that He was obedient to death, even death on the cross for our salvation. Follow Him by faith!

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"The Turnaround of Faith"

We were therefore buried with Him [Christ] through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. Romans 6:4
   

The USS constitution, the historic frigate called Old Ironsides, is berthed in the Boston harbor. Once a year a ceremony is made of turning it around so it will wear evenly on both sides.

Human beings, too, need turning around. To stay in one position all the time is like being in a rut, and a rut, as someone has said, “is a grave with the ends kicked out.” We travel, read good books, and make new friends to attain and maintain a well-balanced mind and personality. We could say it is good for our constitution when we weather evenly.

The Bible speaks of a much more important about face. It is called conversion. Different from outward reform of undesirable habits, it is a thorough-going change of heart, a remaking of the person from an enemy to a friend of God. Such a turnaround is the doing of the Holy Spirit, who through the Gospel – including the Gospel made visible in the water of Holy Baptism – gives people a new heart. As converts they rely altogether on the atoning merit and resurrection of Jesus Christ for their salvation.

“Also, after conversion, we need to turn daily from sin to a life pleasing to God. The prophet Jeremiah prays according to the King James Version of the Bible: “Turn Thou me, and I shall be turned; for Thou art the LORD my God” (Jeremiah 31:18).

A striking example of a complete turnaround is Saul the Pharisee, who became Saint Paul the Apostle. That event took place when he was converted to the Christian faith near Damascus. He urges a daily turning to God. He tells us to do this every day as we rise with Christ from the grave of sin and death to the newness of the life in Him.