The church is full of people who have been offered amazing benefits. There is not another place I would rather be than the family of God. I have the Word of God that helps me know more and understand spiritual truths. I have community, a place to use my gifts, friends, opportunities to worship Him, and great fellowship. A taste of heaven for sure. And of course, God wants us to utilize it all. He wants us to share in the awesome benefits He gives to us as His children. But what is one of His top desires for each of us? What does He long for us? I would say it’s transformation. He wants us to be transformed into His likeness.
Yes, He wants us to grow intellectually, immerse ourselves into church (family) life, disciple people, and share the gospel. But what He wants more than anything is for you and me to be transformed. Our transformation reveals Jesus to people. Our transformation helps us to become better ambassadors for His Kingdom. And our transformation gives us a submissive heart. Our key verse comes from a passage (Jeremiah 18:1-6) about the Potter and His wheel. Isaiah and Paul also use this metaphor (Isaiah 64:8, Romans 9:20-21).
God is the potter and we are His clay. Transformation can only take place in our lives if we are willing to step up on His revolving wheel. He will never force us. But He always invites us. I think many Christians stand at a distance watching the Potter at work, but they have yet to step onto the wheel. Why is that? I would venture to say that transformation can be hard. Maybe we’ve become comfortable in our sin, our bondage. Or perhaps there are generational things that need to be removed… and those things are very difficult. God may need to dig deep into our hearts and squeeze hard. So, we resist.
There are things passed to us that we had no say in… maybe it’s negativity, religion, insecurity, passiveness, unbelief, anger, impatience, self-sufficiency, self-centerdness. Maybe it’s a hard heart. These things can hinder us from walking in humility and submissiveness. These things can keep us from living within the will of God. And of course, these things can hinder our witness.
God is calling each of us to true transformation. But here’s the thing… it’s a constant, daily action on our part. It never happens overnight and we will never reach total transformation until we get to heaven. But we can offer ourselves to the Great Potter every day. Here’s a prayer for each of us: “Lord, do as you want with my life. Mold me into Your image even if it’s uncomfortable or it may sting. Even if it takes a long time. I want to be transformed.” When we make this our prayer every day, God will go to work transforming us into a beautiful masterpiece. A masterpiece that reflects His image.