All in Transformed

When we accept Jesus as Lord are we open to a complete life altering change in who we are, or simply asking Him to alter us in a few handpicked ways? Do we want to become like Jesus and be transformed into His perfect image by becoming a better and more righteous person, or do we simply want to pick and choose those attributes He exhibits that we believe will serve us well in our existing lives? Let’s ask ourselves questions like this… Do I want to be a slightly kinder person, or do I want to be kind as Jesus is kind? Do I want to be more humble, or do I want to be perfectly humble as Jesus is? God wants us to be transformed, but to what degree are we willing to accept the transformation? Will we conform to a complete mental, behavioral, and spiritual change and in so doing obey God’s will for us in its entirety?

When we fear the Lord and seek after Him, we receive His blessings throughout our journey, but even this doesn’t mean we will not be without pain and suffering. We can strive to obey the commandments of our Heavenly Father, but in doing so, we pay a price in sacrifice. Before iron can be reshaped into something useful, or beautiful it must enter the furnace, and before clay can become fixed in its new shape, it must be fired. So it is with us as Christians... our redemption comes with a price, and our rebirth into a new creature requires an often uncomfortable transformation. So we rejoice in our trials, and claim the blessings they make real in us.

We say we are Christians; we say that our lives have been transformed by Christ, but has that conversion been solidified in the heat of our faith’s kiln, or is it still malleable, and able to be reshaped by the world around us? Our new Christ-like self is meant to be as He is... without sin, and founded on the Word of God, but we often treat it as temporary, and as such it does us little good. How firm are we in our faith, and how strong is the new creation that Jesus has molded us into?

Do we think that we can flirt with the coals of temptation and not be burnt, or draw Close to the flicker of sin and not erupt into flames ourselves? Are we on the verge of such occurrences today? Are we speaking about someone negatively, calling it a correction, or warning, when in fact it is bitterness and hatred? Surely our words, and actions, will rub against us like a rasp, and we will find ourselves bleeding, or worn away.

It is Easter morning, and the tomb is empty, but do you believe that our redeemer lives? This sounds like a ridiculous question to be asking a believer, but it might surprise you to know how many men and women proclaim faith by saying the right things regarding the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but don’t live as if they believe them. They say He lives, but live as if He were dead. Job truly believed, and lived his life as if he did, but the apostles had to be convinced that Jesus had risen... which are you?