Something happens when Jesus enters your life.
Years ago, when I was born again, I realized I would never be the same. The Lord began to show me through His Word what had truly happened in my life. Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
At first, that truth may sound difficult to understand. How can we be crucified with Christ? Yet by faith, that is exactly what has taken place. Romans 6:3-4 tells us that those who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death. We were buried with Him so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. In other words, the old life has died, and a new life has begun.
That is not just a doctrine to be studied. It is a reality to be lived. When Jesus enters a person’s life, something happens. He changes the heart, the mind, and the direction of that person’s life. I can say from experience that living by faith in Christ has changed my perspective, my desires, and the way I relate to both God and other people.
Over the years, more than one person has told me that something I said or some interaction we had made a lasting difference in his life. Whenever I hear that, I know the credit does not belong to me. I do not have the power to change anyone’s life. Only Jesus does. If anything in me has been used to help someone else, it is because Christ lives in me.
As I have ridden my motorcycle and spoken with people across the country, I have simply tried to share the joy of knowing Jesus. A friend of mine in the Christian Motorcyclists Association once met a man from Minnesota who asked if he knew “PK,” a CMA member from Florida – an older, tall man with gray hair and a beard. He said I had spoken with him at a rest area in Michigan, and that conversation had helped lead him back to church. His life had changed. Testimonies like that leave me humbled, because I know that kind of work belongs to the Lord.
A few years ago, someone told me that when I walk into a motorcycle clubhouse, the whole atmosphere changes. When I hear something like that, I am reminded again that it is not me. It is Jesus in me. Left to myself, I am simply not that good. But the presence of Christ in a surrendered life makes all the difference.
That does not mean the Christian life is without struggle. I still battle sin. I still need the mercy and grace of God every day. But I can also say with gratitude that Jesus has brought real change into my life and into the way I think. Not long ago, someone told me I was a very patient man. Anyone who knew me before would know that patience did not come naturally to me. Yet there it was. That kind of change is not something I manufactured by trying harder. It is the work of Christ in me.
People often ask me why I am always smiling. The best answer I know is that there is a joy within me that finds its way to my face. Life has not always been easy, but the Lord has been faithful. My boast is not in myself. My boast is in the Lord who lives in me by His Spirit.
Galatians 5:22-23 tells us that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” As I look at my life, I can truly say I see these things growing in me. Not perfectly, and not all at once. These qualities were not the natural fruit of my old life. Something happened when I yielded myself to Jesus. He began to make me into a new man.
That is why 2 Corinthians 5:17 is so precious: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come!” What hope there is in that promise. In Christ, the old life does not have to have the final word. There is grace for the sinner, mercy for the weak, and new life for all who come to Him in faith.
I did not simply decide one day that I would become a new man. I did not wake up and determine that I would produce the fruit of the Spirit by my own strength. But I did choose to follow Christ, and I still choose to follow Him day by day. Some days I do better than others, but whatever good is found in me is there because of Him. It is Christ in me who makes the difference.
That is one reason I write these words. I want you to know that there is a way for your life to change. You cannot make yourself new. You cannot make yourself righteous by your own effort. But you can come to Christ. You can yield your life to Him. You can confess your sin, bring Him your weakness, and ask Him to come into your life. When He does, change begins. No one can truly come to Jesus and remain untouched by His presence.
I have never gone out with the thought, “Today I am going to change someone’s life.” No, I simply try to walk in the power of Christ and His Spirit, and He uses even someone like me despite my weakness. That is one of the mercies of God: He is pleased to work through ordinary people who belong to Him.
Even now, I still stand amazed at the way the Lord uses me in the lives of others. At times it moves me deeply, because I know very well that I could never produce that kind of effect on my own. And yet the Lord, in His kindness, chooses to work through yielded vessels.
So, I do not write these things to boast in myself, but in Christ. I write to encourage you not to harden your heart. Bring your sin, your weakness, your failures, and your need to Jesus. Turn from evil and turn toward Him. Be willing to die to yourself and receive the life that only He can give. He will not turn away the one who truly comes to Him. He will change you, just as He has changed so many others. I know this because He changed me, and that is no small thing.
Now I live for Him.
Lord Jesus, thank You for changing lives. Thank you for your mercy and grace, Your Spirit, and the new life You give to all who come to You in faith. Help us Lord to yield ourselves fully to You and to walk each day in the power of Your presence. Amen!
In Christ,
David “PK” VanderKlay
