Remember Who You Are

By Elaine Poproski

There’s a great story in John 9 about a blind man who encountered Jesus and was healed. People were shocked and amazed. They couldn’t believe this had actually happened, even though the evidence was right in front of them. They kept asking the healed man for explanations. They were sure it was impossible for Jesus to do such a miracle, but this man they’d known to be blind since birth was standing right there, looking them in the eye. He didn’t have a great theological or medical explanation for what had happened. All he had was his story – a really short story, as it turned out; I expect his is the shortest testimony in all Scripture. When asked for the umpteenth time how it was that he’d been healed, he said this:

“One thing I…know, that though I was blind, now I see” (John 9:25).

The song, Amazing Grace, written by John Newton, a man who made his living trafficking human beings prior to becoming a Christian, is possibly one of the most beloved and most frequently sung Christian hymns of the last 200 years. In it, Newton writes these words,

“I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see.”

This Sunday we will continue our journey in Ephesians when we hear the words from chapter 2, vv. 1–10. In these verses, we’re reminded that there’s a distinct difference between our state before and after Christ: We were dead, but now we are alive (Eph. 2:1-5). Some Christians are deeply aware of the truth of these words. They experienced a noticeable, clear-cut change in themselves when they invited Christ into their lives. They’re like the Apostle Paul, knocked off his feet in an instant by an encounter with Jesus, never to be the same again. Others have no such dramatic conversion to speak of. Theirs has been a slow and gradual deepening of understanding and commitment over a lifetime, perhaps. They find it difficult, if not impossible, to tell a parallel story to that of the blind man or even John Newton. But this is the truth of the matter: regardless of whether or not it was a startling change, inviting Jesus into one’s life does change us. It makes us new people.

As you prepare for Sunday, I invite you to spend some time remembering who you were and who you are. How has Jesus changed you? How has His Spirit in you made you a different person? Who would you be if there were no Jesus in your life? What areas of your life still need to be changed?