Living in True Transformation

There is an important lesson to take note of in the story of Noah. The tigers went into the ark and didn’t come back out plant eaters. Their nature did not change by being in the ark. The animals were saved from the flood. That is their lives were preserved for a time, but their natures did not change. They were not transformed. The tiger did not repent of eating other animals; he stayed the way he was. 

If you have, at some point in your life, prayed ‘the prayer’ and asked Jesus to come into your heart but nothing has changed, that may have been a prayer based out of religious emotions, not sincere repentance. 

I’ve been to Broadway shows that so moved my heart that I was in the theater crying. Let’s say they had given an altar call: “If you want to see a change in your romantic life like you just saw in this play, step forward and you can have a better relationship with your girlfriend, boyfriend or wife!” I might have gone forward and had someone tell me how to do it better.

Those kinds of emotions are based off of external events, and they can be good, but they’re rarely lasting. Sometimes we do the same thing with God, and the best way to tell whether or not this has happened is if we see real change in our hearts and lives.

When we come to Christ, we should be given a whole new nature. The Bible states, “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14, ESV). God transfers us from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. 

When we come into Christ, there should be some changes. We should start to feel different, act different and respond differently. A life genuinely following God is always transformed.