Here’s a tragedy that I see playing itself out time and time again: people say they believe in God, even that they believe that Jesus is who He said He is, that He died for them and rose again as we celebrated just a few days ago … and yet, there’s this gnawing emptiness inside. Something’s missing.

Tokichi Ishii was one of Japan’s most feared and brutal criminals. He was arrested over 20 times for theft, assault, and ultimately murder. By the time he was sentenced to death, Ishii was so hardened that he spat on the guards and cursed all who came near.

He later admitted to feeling a crushing emptiness, a weight on his chest that he couldn’t escape. But in prison, he was handed a Bible. Reading Jesus’ words from the cross—“Father, forgive them”—pierced his heart. “I stopped,” he wrote, “as if stabbed by a five-inch nail.”

Overwhelmed by grace, he repented and gave his life to Christ. The emptiness lifted. Ishii became peaceful and kind, ministering to fellow inmates, and met his death in 1918 with joy, having been transformed by knowing the truth about who he was in Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:15,17 [Jesus] died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised … When anyone is in Christ, it is a whole new world. The old things are gone; suddenly, everything is new!  ESV & ERV

The truth about you, about anyone who really believes in Jesus, is that your identity is in Him. Just like Ishii, you are truly a new person; everything old has passed away, and everything is new. That’s who you’ve become. Lay hold of that truth, and the gnawing emptiness goes away. Suddenly, everything is new!

That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.