St. Peter stood at the Pearly Gates, waiting for the incoming.
He saw Jesus walking by and caught his attention. “Jesus,
could you mind the gate while I go do an errand?”

“Sure,” replied Jesus. “What do I have to do?”

“Just find out about the people who arrive.
Ask about their background, their family, and their lives.
Then decide if they deserve entry into Heaven.”

“Sounds easy enough. OK.” So Jesus waited at the gates while
St. Peter went off on his errand. The first person to approach
the gates was a wrinkled old man.
Jesus summoned him to the examination table and sat across from him.
He peered at the old man and asked, “What was it you did for a living?”

The old man replied, “I was a carpenter.”

Jesus remembered his own earthly existence and leaned forward.
“Did you have any family?” he asked.

“Yes, I had a son, but I lost him.”

Jesus leaned forward some more.
“You lost your son? Can you tell me about him?”

“Well, he had holes in his hands and feet.”

Jesus leaned forward even more and whispered, “Father?”

The old man leaned forward and whispered, “Pinocchio?”

I recently read a quote in a British magazine that said, “Conversion to Christ is a staggering event.” What a well-chosen word! Conversion really is staggering, if you think about it.

I remember as a boy I would sit in church listening to preachers quote 2 Corinthians 5:17: “If anyone is in Christ, he’s a new creature. The old has passed away. The new has come.”

And I would wonder, They look the same on the outside, so where does the change take place?

Years later, I made a list of what changes when someone accepts Christ. Here are a just few ideas from that list: “Once I was lost, now I am found. Once I was blind, now I can see. Once I was dead, now I’m alive. Once I was a slave, now I am free. Once I was empty, now I’m a temple of God. Once I was in the darkness, now I’m in the light. Once I was guilty, now I’m forgiven.”

Isn’t that staggering to think of how God changes us? And that’s just the tip of the ice berg!

Why don’t you try coming up with your own list of what happened - Biblically as well as visibly - when you came to faith in Christ?

The next time you’re talking to someone about the Lord, you can share those changes in your own personal life. Many times the most powerful testimony is your own transformed life.