New Life is Contagious

One day, Paul met face to face with Jesus. And it turned his world upside down, and inside out. Scriptures indicates, that shortly after this meeting, Paul went on a retreat.

Because Paul was a scholar, he need to get his head on straight about all that had happened. Jesus revealed God to him in a revolutionary way. The Jewish scholars poured through Scripture, seeking answers to God, his purposes, his intentions, and plans. They all thought they had God figured out. They had his system down pat. Then comes Jesus! How did they get it so wrong?

After this retreat, he understood better what God's purposes are. He understood Jesus, the Law, the cross, and grace. He understood faith, and obedience. And he understood the effect the gospel could have on Jew, gentile, and the world. And he recognizes his place as a gospel pioneer in God's plan.

So, when he shares the gospel in a gentile city, and they have a similar "light bulb" moment, he develops a special joy for this city. The people in this new church — this community of Jesus followers — recognized the eternal ripples the gospel would generate. They recognized the expanding, positive effects the gospel would cause in their lives, and families, and countries.

Profoundly impacted by it all, they began to share what they knew all-along their relational lines. They told friends, family, and neighbors about Jesus. This was not a city-wide, door-to-door campaign. This was: "Hey, Joe! How's work? How's the family? Have you heard about this Jesus guy?"

Paul recognized the symptoms of new life in them. He knew them, because he had the same "disease." So, Paul prayed for their progress in their relationship with the Father, their transformation, and the increasing effect of their lives on their communities. And Paul knew that the Father was not finished yet.

One reason, Jesus was born into the world, was to demonstrate, to model, how people should be living. God intended each person to live like Jesus lived. Each person should have a spontaneous flow of God's love — to experience, and to share. And each person ought to share it freely, readily, and abundantly.

And yeah! none of us are there yet. But, we ought to be moving in that direction. And in today's atmosphere, it ought to be noticed … just like it was in the first century.