This past Sunday at church, the Pastor spent a few moments to highlight one of the studies that was restarting this week called "Life's Healing Choices". One of the women who got up to speak, read a couple verses that God had given her while she went throught he study and one of them was Romans 12:2, which reads "Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good pleasing and perfect will".
I've spent the last few days rolling the verse over in my mind, and more specifically the word transformed. I started thinking about transformation.
I recalled that most often, when I'm seeking to be different in an area of my life, I'm asking God to change me. I ask Him to change me to be more like Him, change my attitude, change my outlook.
Change is far from being a bad thing, but I got to considering the difference between a change and a transformation.
Let's liken it to a home.
It's relatively simple to make changes around a house. Maybe hang some new picture frames, buy some new throw pillows, change a paint color. Maybe you'd go a little farther and invest in some new furniture or decor. It doesn't need to take a lot of time or energy. People would walk into your home and kindly remark about how nice it looks.
But to make a real transformation is much different. It takes tearing down and moving walls. Most often when those walls come down, more issues are revealed. Leaks, poor insulation, inproper construction. And once those problems are brought to light, they must be dealt with before the structure is covered again. Floors must be ripped up, ineffective plumbing and electrical must be updated. Rusty fixtures need to be removed and replaced, old worn carpet and underlay is torn up. Your furniture and life must be shuffled around to accomodate the efforts. It could take weeks, months or even upto a year. It consumes all your time, attention and energy. And when it's all done, we can't just move on and never give anymore time to it. It must be maintained and upkept. When people walk into your home, stagger back in astonishment and exclaim, "This doesn't even look like the same house!". They would wander around in amazement, remarking about every detail and how incredibly different it looks.
That's the kind of transformation I want in my own life.
I want people to barely be able to recognize me because everything old and rotten, damaged and ruined, dead and unproductive has been completely stripped away. The weak and feeble walls I'd tried to erect myself have been torn down to allow healing, forgiveness and peace to flow and restore my broken and reluctant heart to the pristine condition it was intended to be.
My God is the ultimate renovater.
"....being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ."
Philippians 1:6
2 comments:
What a beautiful & encouraging post. Thanks for sharing!
Perfect illustration. Thank you!
Post a Comment