Transformation (i)

Apostle Paul told the church in Rome, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1). Looking into these words of the apostle, they seem contradictory at first glance, because he seems to say we ought to present ourselves as a sacrifice, which implies a death of sorts, but also calls us ‘living’. He is basically referring to a man who is alive yet lives his life as one who has given himself totally to the Lord by every expression imaginable; which he calls a reasonable service. You may be living, but this life is no longer yours! He then goes on to say, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (v.2). He begins to express the need for born again believers to unlearn everything they had believed before coming to Christ; because transformation starts at the point of removing old baggage in order to refill with the precepts and ways of the Lord. This is especially important because men have in the past made the Word of God of no effect through their traditions (Mark 7:13), and while they received the Word, it did not help them in any way because they were committed to their old ways. This world the apostle Paul is referring to is the systems of thought that are inherent to this side of life that do not agree with what the Lord Jeusus tells us. This includes the relationships and people we keep in our personal spaces, because these people have the ability to influence us, whether we see it or not – every relationship is a yoke! This is very important, because all of us in the kingdom of God are in the process of transformation, we do not come in perfect and it is important that we give ourselves over to this journey of unlearning and relearning. God made it clear that His thoughts are not our thoughts, and His way not our ways (Isaiah 55:8), which is why we need a targeted approach to aligning ourselves continually with the Lord, forsaking our ways and our unrighteous thoughts for His own (Isaiah 55:7).

This walk of transformation is present continuous, it never ends! We read from the Scriptures, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” (Romans 11:33); so there is no arriving! Apostle Paul’s admonition also makes it clear that the knowledge of the Lord’s will is progressive, one first grows in the good, then the acceptable, and then the perfect (Romans 12:2), in the same way that it is stated that it is first the “….first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear” (Mark 4:28). There is truly no coming to the end without going through the process: whatever you have not worked for, you cannot maintain. Considering the time when the Lord had given over the land of Canaan to the house of Israel, the people seemed apprehensive over what the land carried and whom they might find in there and expressed dire need to spy it before they came in fully, to ease their nerves. We know that this is not God’s counsel, because He wants His people to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). God said to Moses, “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them” (Numbers 13:1), but by the time Moses gave this instruction to the men going into the land, he said, “Go up this way into the South, and go up to the mountains, and see what the land is like: whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, few or many; whether the land they dwell in is good or bad; whether the cities they inhabit are like camps or strongholds; whether the land is rich or poor; and whether there are forests there or not. Be of good courage. And bring some of the fruit of the land” (Numbers 13:17-20). He had now added his own instructions to what the Lord had said, and with every addition, the men moved away from the word of the Lord and began majoring on things they were never instructed to do in the first place.

Upon their return from spying the land, they reported, “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit” (v.27) – which is where they should have ended, but no! The true position of their heart was revealed with the words that followed, and the measure of emphasis also speaks to their inward unbelief. They continued, “Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan” (v.28). All these things they were now listing could not stand against their God, and instead of focusing on Him who sent them, they became engulfed in the details of their opposition. We continue to read, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it” (v.30) – there is always a voice of faith around us, and we need to locate it and gravitate towards it instead of the ones speaking against the report of the Lord. In their negativity, the men continued, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we… The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature” (v.31-32) – they even began to exaggerate now, what kind of land is it that swallows people? Surely non-existent! But now the people had their unmanaged fears escalate, and once these thoughts of fear run amok, curbing them under the obedience of Christ will be difficult. They went on, “There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight” (v.33). They saw themselves to be grasshoppers, and subsequently, that is exactly what they became to the people of the land. The way you perceive yourself determines how the rest of the world will treat you; that is the honest truth! Scripture even testifies that “… as a man thinks in his heart, so he is!” (Proverbs 23:7).

After the passing of Moses, we read that “Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho”” (Joshua 2:1). He showed that he had learnt from the mistakes of Moses, and did not send a fleet of men who would have presented multiple opportunities for unbelief to spread in the camp. So the men went, and came to the house of Rahab, a prostitute, and lodged there. When the king of Jericho sought the two men, Rahab protected them and sent the soldiers of the king in the wrong direction (v.4-7). She then turned to tell the spies, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath” (v.9-12). This is the reality even for us today, a lot of the spaces we are afraid of are afraid of us, and our enemies know the reality of our identity! While the enemy may know who God called us to be, they will not simply retreat but will still attempt to overcome us! Which is why if we do not transform our thinking to the truth of God and see ourselves the way He sees us, we will never experience the fullness of all God has in store for us; so it is absolutely critical that we take this journey seriously!

Prayer 

Father, we thank You for Your word of assurance, that teaches us of your patterns and helps us prepare for the road ahead. Your Word is alive and active in us, anchoring our souls through comfort and bearing the fruit of faith in due season. We are a success! Our path to victory is inevitable! We are growing in wisdom, growing in knowledge and growing in grace! We bless You, in the name of Jesus, Amen!