The Ministry of Life - Part VII - Transformation

A Covenant of Transformation

Transformation. Who of us upon having realized the futility of trying to overcome sin in our own strength and determination has not longed for transformation? Our intentions are good; our hearts are in the right place; yet there are those troubling issues in our lives that keep resurfacing. Like bumps in the carpet we trip over them repeatedly, even though we know they're there; even though we've known they've been there for some time. Still we trip. Sometimes we simply lose our balance momentarily. Sometimes we fall.

But the hopeful promise of the covenant God has given us through the Lord Jesus Christ is one of transformation. The word here is metamorphoo in the Greek language, meaning, "to transform" as a caterpillar is transformed into a butterfly, an amazing process in its own right. The caterpillar does its part by gorging itself on food then crawling into the protective covering of the cocoon to digest and be transformed. Likewise, we must gorge ourselves on God's Word and His Spirit then crawl into His protective covering while He does the transforming in us.

For the caterpillar, the transformation is not immediate.... It is a process. And the same is true of us. We must learn to crawl and to wait before we can be given wings to fly. And just as the butterfly can never be a caterpillar again, we can never be un-transformed. That caterpillar was chosen and created to become a butterfly. And we too have been chosen and created to be transformed by God for His purposes -- in order to be His ministers. We do our part (filling up on His Word and resting in Him); He does the transforming work...and day by day we are being changed so that we reflect His image more and more. We don't have to white-knuckle it. We don't have to sweat and strain. We must simply continually satisfy our appetites with Him and wait; He will do the rest...from glory to glory.