Dying To Self As Christ Died For Us

Dying To Self As Christ Died For Us

When we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. Romans 6:7

In July 1980, I stopped running from Jesus. I’d been changed from an atheist to a believer in an instant when Jesus spoke to me in a dream while I was camping in the wilderness. Looking back on that experience, I realize I had a funeral and a rebirth at the same time.

The dream I had of heaven confirmed to me that I was a new creature in Christ. In my dream, Jesus told me that I would marry Karen, we would have four children, and I would practice medicine in Tennessee. If you knew my life in Birmingham and my relationship with Karen at that time, you would know how astounding all of that sounded to me. But I heard God’s voice, and I wanted to follow wherever he led me.

The next day, I celebrated my conversion by baptizing myself in the waters of Virgin Falls, Tennessee.

After my time in the woods, I often thought about the old life that had died on that trail and how it was washed away in the overflowing waters of the falls. If my old self hadn’t died on that solo camping trip, it was destined to die sooner or later. I had been on a path of self-destruction, and nothing else could have saved me from myself.

Instead, I blazed a new trail, following in the steps of our Lord. That new path led me to Karen, my four kids, and my practice in Tennessee.

Christ died so that I might live a new forever life in him, but my old self had to die for me to follow him.

TODAY’S RX

There is no CPR for a life lived apart from God. Without Jesus, we are all destined to die spiritually.

Set me on a new path today, Lord. Replant my feet on your firm foundation. Help me to let go of the sin that still remains in my heart, and wash me anew.