Can you change your disposition? Is it possible to overcome frustration, anger, and prejudice? Are we stuck in our old ways or is it possible to be different?
I am convinced you do not have to live the way you always have. Please look at what I wrote yesterday about changing your disposition.
Today, let me give you two examples of people who God changed. You know these men well. They were part of Jesus’ original twelve.
We know them as James and John. The names James and John were quite common in New Testament times as they are today in the English speaking world.
These men were brothers. Jesus gave them the nickname, “Boanerges,’ a term meaning the “Sons of thunder.”
My guess is that they were named that for a reason. They most likely had explosive or volatile personalities. At one point they asked Jesus for permission to call down fire from heaven on a village that did not receive Jesus. On another occasion, they requested the places of honor when Jesus came into His kingdom. Jesus asked if they were willing to die with Him. They assured Him that they were.
No wonder Jesus called them “Sons of Thunder.” But they didn’t live up to their name.
Had we only known James and John after the crucifixion and resurrection we would not associate them with such a name. God changed their disposition.
James was the first of the twelve disciples to die for his faith. All of the others subsequently died for Christ except for John.
We associate John with the Gospel of John, the three epistles of John, and the Revelation. When we think of the Epistles of John, the one word that comes to mind is the word “Love.” John repeatedly told us to love one another. He commanded that we love others as we love ourselves. Isn’t it amazing that the son of thunder of the past became the beloved John of the New Testament? What caused this?
John saw the resurrected Christ and believed. The Holy Spirit resided in him and God brought change in his life.
If James and John could be changed, so can you and I. Let us yield ourselves to Christ and ask Him to live within us and make us new creatures.