Transformation - Martin Wiles

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2 Corinthians 3:18 NKJV

My wife and I excelled at transforming yards, but this one … well ….

Our time had come to move—again. But this time, it wasn’t by force but by choice. We were excited, sort of, until we saw the backyard of the small patio townhome. Landscapers maintained the front yard, and our new landlords had transformed the inside, but the backyard was a mess. A single vine had overtaken an entire side of the three-sided privacy fence, briars had overrun what was once a rock-laden yard, suckers had covered the four crepe myrtle trees, and grass had scampered off for good. But we agreed when the landlord offered to cut our security deposit by three hundred dollars if we landscaped the area.

My wife, the creative one in our marriage, could see in her mind’s eye how she wanted the yard to look. She didn’t want to sow grass in the small area. She wanted to mulch it. So, we raked away all the dead briars, cut the suckers from the trees, and removed the dead weeds. After throwing it in the wooded area behind the townhome, we set out for Lowes. Ten bags of mulch later, we were back and spreading. But when we finished, we were one bag short. Back to Lowes we went for another five bags, just in case.

Once we had finished the mulching, we returned to our old townhome and removed the one hundred river rocks with which we had landscaped that yard. We loaded them into the back of my old Explorer—our moving van—one by one and drove three doors down. I handed them to my wife one by one, who carefully outlined our backyard with them. Then, we removed the fifteen landscaping squares in our old yard and made a walking path across the mulch, extending from our patio to the back gate.

After completing the yard, we worked on the fence. We brought the old implements that had hung on our old fence and put them on our new fence. Since I had already planted our garden vegetables, I also had to transplant them.

Seven hours later—with sweat-soaked clothes, clay-laced hands, and brown-mulched skin—we stood and admired the transformation we had created. “I wish I had taken a before picture,” my wife said as we looked over our new backyard. I wished she had, too.

Once we placed our patio furniture, our new little garden area was complete. We imagined how pleasant the evenings would be—sitting on our patio, watching the birds and squirrels, and seeing our garden grow.

I think Paul imagined God doing somewhat the same with people. From heaven—or everywhere since he’s omnipresent—God watches us and works in our lives, as my wife and I did with our new backyard. Paul calls it a transformation.

We need transformation because we aren’t what we should be or what God wants. Born with a sinful nature, we’ll travel the wrong path almost every time we’re given the chance. Although we may make some good choices, the bad will outweigh the good because of our sinful bent. Only God can transform that. And he does when we invite him into our lives, repent of our sins, and ask him for forgiveness.

Christ’s forgiveness propels us in God’s direction instead of the selfish one we’re born with. God transforms us so we don’t look, act, or think as we once did. As we submit to the process, we begin to see beauty in our lives we never could have mustered before. Through our obedience to the spiritual disciples of prayer, Bible study, and corporate worship, God turns us into something we almost don’t recognize. Nor do others.

I explained our new backyard to others by praising my wife’s creative genius and our hard work. We explained our new way of life by praising God’s grace and creative genius.

Make sure you are submitting to God’s transforming work.

Father, help me to submit to your transforming work in my life.

Tweetable: Are you letting God transform you? 

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