Transformations

As I sit here listening to the sounds of the rushing water below and watching the flicker of the fire in the firepit I think about time and change. Things have already gone by so quickly this year. It seems these days are falling off the calendar much like the water rushing off the land and falling to the rocks below...following the path of least resistance and slowly changing that path as it goes. Water flowing, days flying, time passing and change; they all come upon us, sometimes quickly while at other times more controlled or even unnoticed, but we are all victims of this thing we call life.

Perhaps victim is too harsh a word...subject maybe fits us better. Of course, that makes us sound like an experiment and I feel that is far from the truth. As I'm chasing this latest rabbit that has appeared on my trail I am reminded of an old song in which the writer called himself a pilgrim - a traveler - one headed to a particular destination while cutting a path for others to follow if they so choose. Hmmm...the more I think on this the more that description fits. You see, according the the God I follow and put my faith in, I am not His prey but His pride. I am not an experiment gone terribly wrong but rather a creation intended for greatness. As I allow the Father's hand to shape me, to change me, over time I will achieve the greatness for which I was created.

Now, I know some of you will say it's not fair nor reasonable for this God to expect us to change...after all this is just the way our genes are assembled. Our DNA dictates who we will become so there should be no reason for God to request us to change. What I find interesting about this statement is the fact that this "soul change" is the only one that we humans argue so vehemently against and fight so hard to stop. We readily accept that if we want to loose weight we must exercise, if we want to be healthier we must adopt good eating habits and if we want to excel at a particular sport or talent we must practice. We willingly adapt and transform our genetically inherited trait of obesity into the mold of our "perfect weight". We push and force ourselves to eat what is intended to help keep us healthy and wave the flag of victory over drinking our lemon water instead of that soda we crave so badly. Why is it so difficult for us to accept the fact that God wants us to conform to His standards? Why is it so easy to accept and even applaud transformation in the physical while considering it unreasonable or unfair to transform in the spiritual?

"Prove ourselves holy and acceptable to God."(Romans 12:1) This season reminds us that He gave everything He had to redeem us; yet we think it unreasonable that He would ask us to follow His commands. What is even more disturbing when I think of it is this: He asks us to follow His commands because He has our best interests at heart. Following His leading isn't blind obedience but focused wisdom. Why on earth would I want to go through a jungle without a guide? Why would I not want to follow the one who knows every path and every rock on those paths? He knows the turn of the river before I even know there is a river! The reason physical discipline is acceptable while Godly, spiritual discipline is not is because the enemy knows only God's way will overcome. The enemy knows only God's way will carry us to the place He originally intended for us and we will have purpose beyond this meager, fleeting thing we call life.

Time, as we now know it, will eventually cease. We will get to the end of our days and one of two things will happen: Either it will just be the end of our story (of which we will know nothing of) or the continuation of our story in eternity (where we will find out, once and for all, who was right and who was wrong). All the physical transformations in the world will not matter if what really mattered most was the spiritual transformation we so adamantly refused to accept.

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