Transform

If you ask most people will tell you that they want their lives to be better tomorrow than it is today.  Many Christians will tell you similarly that they want and believe that they should be growing in their faith, their knowledge of scripture, and their relationship with God.  The challenge is that as people our modus operandi is tweaking.  We take what already is, slightly and careful modify it enough to convince ourselves that it is different, but often not in a substantial way, and then call it good.  I was reading and reflecting on a few scriptures where God speaks about what it looks our lives look like once God gets ahold of us:

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

Ezekiel 36:26 ESV

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:2 ESV

Ezekiel speaks of God giving us a heart transplant, 2 Corinthians speaks about us become an entirely new person with the old one going away, and Romans speaks about us transforming (in the Greek the root word means to literally become something else, like a caterpillar becomes a butterfly).  Scripture seems to say that once we encounter the Living God, once the Holy Spirit gets inside of our souls, the results should be significant, and noticeable.  There is not language in these passages that suggests the Holy Spirit tweaks our lives, but instead causes wholesale change.

 

The challenge in these passages is not just for new Christians though, in fact, it is sometimes harder for those who have been Christians for a period of time.  Ezekiel writes not that God would give a heart transplant for those who are just meeting Him, but that this overwhelming transformation would happen to those who have followed God much of their lives that God’s desire for deep transformation extends to all believers, no matter the length and breadth of your walk.

 

Our challenge, how much transformation are we interested in?

 

I believe that the degree of transformation that God will do in your life is deeply connected to the level of change we will allow, and the amount of control that we will hand over to God.  Since God loves us, He does not force us to change, He offers us a chance for a better life, to choose to be fully obedient to Him.  If we desire deep transformation, are we willing to experience deep change, and to offer a significant level of control to God, even if it deals with areas, hobbies, and things that are near and dear to our lives?  God’s promises us a life to the fullest (John 10:10), if we will turn it over to Him, so the question for you: how much transformation do you want to see God do in your life?

 

Pastor Bill