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!