Truck Dock.

As you may or may not know, I work in our shipping/receiving department at work. This means that I load/unload trucks all day. The dock is well lit, but the trailers are not. We have lights on our forklifts, but rarely use them. Last week in the middle of loading a truck, God revealed this to me. He does this to me all the time at work. As I'm driving into the trailer, I notice that it is getting darker the further that I get in. The light from the building starts to fade and I'm almost in total darkness. Then as I put the forklift into reverse and start to back out of the trailer, it starts to get lighter as I am heading toward the building and the lights. I'm not sure how many trailers I have loaded/unloaded over my career. 1000's probably, but never ever thought of it this way.

I started thinking about what if it's this way when we sin against God. Every sin we commit, or anything not pleasing to God is like going into the trailer and away from the light. It gets darker and darker the deeper we get into our sin. Every foot we drive towards the darkness, is a foot away from the light. But there is good news. Just like we can change direction in the trailer, to drive back towards the light, we too can turn around and reverse our direction and head back towards the light.

Acts 26:18 New Living Translation (NLT)
¹⁸ to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people, who are set apart by faith in me.’

Every step we take towards Jesus, is a step away from the evil one and his wicked ways. As we get closer and closer to Jesus, His light shines brightly on us.

John 8:12 New Living Translation (NLT)¹² Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”

As I kept driving in and out of the trailer, from light to dark and back again. I kept thinking about Israel in the Old Testament. They would follow God, then abandon God, then repent and follow God again. A cycle that unfortunately still exists in today's world. We do things are own way, and then when they go wrong, we want God to help us. Then when He does, we go back to our old ways again.

 Once I start to follow God, I don't want to do a return trip back the other way. I want to keep seeking after God, and what He has for me.

Jeremiah 29:11 New Living Translation (NLT)¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

 

Transformation.

I am a board member at our local pregnancy resource center here in town. Every year we hold a banquet to raise funds to cover operating expenses and other things that we provide for our clients throughout the year. A local church let's us use their sanctuary to hold the banquet. We have back to back nights of the banquet. Thursday and Friday nights. So on Wednesday night we get a group of people together to transform the sanctuary into a banquet hall. We remove almost all of the chairs from inside the room, and then we bring in the tables, set them up and place chairs all around them. From the beginning of set up, to the final placement of the chairs, the transformation from one kind of room to another is incredible.

As I was preparing to leave Wednesday night after set up, I turned around and looked at the room. The tables, the chairs, all set up in perfect order. From what I saw, to what it was when I first arrived that night was nothing short of amazing. That got me to thinking about the transforming power of Jesus. When we accept Him, we became a different person.

2 Corinthians 5:17(TLB)
¹⁷ When someone becomes a Christian, he becomes a brand new person inside. He is not the same anymore. A new life has begun!

You see, that room was being changed from the inside out. Just like moving the chairs out of the room, to make room for the tables, Jesus is cleaning the junk from the inside of us, to make room for Himself and His Holy Spirit. Just like the room was now a "new" room, we are a new person. Our old life is gone. We now have a new life in Jesus!

Galatians 2:20(NLT)²⁰ My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Unlike the banquet hall having to be transformed back into a sanctuary at the end of the second evening. I am not going back to my old life. My old life is gone. There is no going back. I am a new creation with Christ Jesus.

Ezekiel 36:26(NLT)
²⁶ And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.

Thank You Lord, for Your transforming Spirit. Thank You for making me a new person in You! Amen!