February 5, 2009

Getting out into the Sun

Change in Christlikeness is not something we do to ourselves. It happens supernaturally through the working of the Holy Spirit when we expose ourselves to Gods Word and He reveals to us His glory. A fair-skinned man who is not tanned as much as he would like can do only one thing- spend more time in the sun. In fact, if a dark tan is truly important to him, he will not be watching the clock to see whether his "fifteen minutes" of time in the sun is up; he will be watching his skin to see whether it is the color he wants. If he wants a darker tan than his time in the sun today, he will look at what he has to do tomorrow to see whether he can postpone or eliminate anything in order to spend more time in the sun.

In the same way, a believer who is not manifesting godliness in some area of is life can do only thing- spend more time in the Word asking God to illuminate his mind and heart. Believers who have very little "tan" are revealing their limited exposure to the glory of God. If we aren't spending time "walking in the light" our "untanned" (unchanged) lives will show that our walk has been mostly in darkness. If we truly want more change in our lives, we will look at what is on our agenda today to see whether anything can be postponed or eliminated so that we can spend more time being exposed to the glory of God. We won't be watching the clock; we will be watching for the effect of the glory of God in our lives.

(Jim Berg)
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2 comments:

Sigma said...

I remember this from the "Changed Into His Image" book we did this last summer. I love the challenge it gives about not checking the clock every few minutes to see how long we've been having our devotions. I've been guilty of this. Its like we're seeing if we've met the "required amount" of time to make us feel that we've done the spiritual thing for the day.

Staying in Gods Word until we see the change thats needed....now theres the real challenge.
Chrystal

February 5, 2009 at 12:39 PM
mike said...

Wow! I'm only beginning to realize what miracle it is for someone's life to change, especially for the better. (It usually isn't that hard for a life to change for the worse -- that just comes naturally!). People change so slowly and so seldomly. So many times I am frustrated by this inability to change, frustrated that I can't change other people and even more frustrated that I can't even change myself. You'd think I would at least be able to control my own life, but time and time I prove myself wrong on this point. When I was reading this it hit me that part of my frustration is because God never intended for us to change ourselves -- He knew we could never do it. His intentions are and always have been for us to be changed only through Him, only with His help and not on our own power. Only in that way can He get the glory and not us. When I remember how impossible it is for lives to change themselves, and then look at all the lives I know that have been changed (one of them being my own) I am reminded once again of what a miracle it is and what a great God we serve. It takes a supernatural force to change lives for the better and an even greater force to keep them changed.

February 6, 2009 at 2:00 PM

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