A sure conflict starter is to tell someone, “You’ve got to change!” And yet, each one of us knows there are areas of our lives which need to be changed. Think about some of the major players in the Bible. After the Bathsheba debacle, don’t you think David realized some major changes needed to happen in his life. When Peter’s eyes locked in with those of Jesus after he had just shouted, “I swear by God I don’t know the man,” he realized that if he was going to continue to be a follower of Christ, there would have to be serious modifications in his thinking, speech, and behavior. And then there is that man Paul. He spent the entire second half of his life talking about the miraculous, marvelous changes God worked in his life.
For the Christian, change is an ongoing experience. It may be a cliché, but it is also true, “God loves us too much to let us stay the way we are.” The same Paul who God changed so drastically (see Acts 9 for his story) wrote to a group of Christians in the city of Ephesus about the kind of change God works in the lives of all who trust in him as their Savior and Lord. The list is long and intimidating. It causes one to wonder, “What will my life be like if God works these attitudes and characteristics in my life?” But there is also the sense that these changes will bring goodness and wholeness. We are compelled to admit that what we deep down are longing for is very much what God wants us to become.
God’s changes are neither easy nor comfortable. But they are exactly what we need not only to be transformed into the person he saved us to be, but also to experience the good life he intends for us.
Sunday Worship Time: 10:00 am
