How, then, should we live?

When Moses went up the mountain and spoke to God, it changed him. When he returned, his face literally glowed! It scared the people so much that Moses put a veil over his face in an attempt to alleviate their fear.

When Saul encountered Christ on the road to Damascus, it blinded him temporarily but it changed him permanently. The vehement Christian hater and abuser became the most outstanding character in the New Testament after Christ.

Let’s face it, coming into relationship with Jesus Christ changes us.

It’s supposed to!

If committing to follow Christ as His disciple is supposed to change our lives, how, then, should we live? Here’s some instruction in that regard from the Apostle Paul, who was changed so radically by following Jesus …

For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. – Titus 2:11-13.

Pastor Derl Keefer tells a great story that embodies how one man lived out the instruction we find in the scripture above:

Back in the 50’s, there was a well-known radio host/comedian/song writer in Hollywood named Stuart Hamblen who was noted for his drinking, womanizing, partying, etc.

One of his bigger hits at the time was: “I won’t go hunting with you, Jake, but I’ll go chasing women.”

One day, along came a young preacher holding a tent revival. Hamblen had him on his radio show, presumably to poke fun at him. In order to gather more material for his show, Hamblen showed up at one of the revival meetings. Early in the service, the preacher announced, “There is one man in this audience who is a big fake.” There were probably others who thought the same thing, but Hamblen was convinced he was the one the preacher was talking about — some would call that conviction — but he was having none of that.

Still, the words continued to haunt him until a couple of nights later he showed up drunk at the preacher’s hotel room door around 2 a.m. demanding that he pray for him! The preacher refused, saying, “This is between you and God, and I’m not going to get in the middle of it.” However, he invited Stuart in, and they talked until about 5 a.m., at which point Stuart dropped to his knees and, with tears, cried out to God.

That is not the end of the story.

Stuart quit drinking, quit chasing women, quit everything that was “fun.” Soon, he began to lose favor with the Hollywood crowd. He ultimately was fired by the radio station when he refused to accept a beer company as a sponsor. Hard times were upon him. He tried writing a couple of Christian songs, but the only one that had much success was “This Old House,” written for his friend Rosemary Clooney.

As he continued to struggle, a long-time friend named John took him aside and told him, “All your troubles started when you got religion. Was it worth it all?” Stuart answered simply, “Yes.”

Then his friend asked, “You liked your booze so much, don’t you ever miss it?” His answer was, “No.” John then said, “I don’t understand how you could give it up so easily.”

Stuart’s response was, “It’s no big secret. All things are possible with God.” To this John said, “That’s a catchy phrase. You should write a song about it.”

And as they say, the rest is history. The song Stuart wrote was “It Is No Secret.”

“It is no secret what God can do.
What He’s done for others, He’ll do for you.
With arms wide open, He’ll welcome you.
It is no secret, what God can do…”

By the way … the friend was John Wayne, and the young preacher who refused to pray for Stuart Hamblen? That was Billy Graham.

How, then, should we live?

“… turn from godless living and sinful pleasures …”

“We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God …”

How are you living?

Scotty