Thanks to Calvary

"Thanks to Calvary, we don't live here, anymore."

That's the line to a song sung by The Cathedral Quartet that was written by Bill and Gloria Gaither.

The first verse and chorus goes like this:

Today I went back to the place where I used to go,
Today I saw the same old crowd I knew before.
When they asked me what had happened, I tried to tell them,
"Thanks to Calv'ry I don't come here anymore."

CHORUS:

Thanks to Calv'ry I am not the man I used to be,
Thanks to Calv'ry things are different than before.
While the tears ran down my face, I tried to tell them them,
"Thanks to Calv'ry I don't live here anymore."

I am struck by the message of God's power to change our lives in such a way as it is though we have completed changed our place of residence. In fact, that is what He does. Thanks to Calvary, His death on the cross, and my acceptance of His Grace and Salvation I have a new home. My home is even now being prepared for me in Heaven.

I don't live here anymore. In fact, I am a pilgrim and a traveler in a foreign land. My customs are different than the customs of this place. My actions and my attitudes are different.

In fact, if I understand the Apostle Paul's writings, I actually died. I was born anew. And the new life I now live I live in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. John Newton, author of the hymn, Amazing Grace, once said to a friend; "I am not all that I should be or what I want to be, but thank God I am not what I used to be."

Perhaps I should send a "change of address" card to all my friends and loved ones who don't know Jesus. I could tell them that "Thanks to Calvary, I don't live here anymore." Perhaps I should tell them how they can move on up to Gloryland as well.