Daily Reading for Tuesday, Jan. 29: Change

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

Change can be described in many ways. It is defined thusly: to cause to become; to alter; to transform; to convert, to become different, to pass from one phase to another, something of the same kind but new or fresh. Change denotes a making or becoming distinctly different and implies either a radical transformation of character or replacement with something else. Alter implies only a partial change so that the identity is preserved. Vary suggests irregular or intermittent change. Modify implies minor change, often so as to limit or moderate. Transform implies a change in form, usually in nature, or function; and convert suggests more strongly a change to suit a new function.

Clearly, the word change has many meanings. But for the Christian, it primarily means that we have passed from the old world of sin into the new life of sainthood. We have been transformed by the power of Christ into eternally living beings who truly bear the image of our Father and the light of His countenance. We take on attributes that we once may have only looked upon in disdain—traits such as goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness. We become loving of those who hate us, and we give not seeking our own comforts but seeking a greater kingdom and the benefit of those who are its inhabitants. We comfort the afflicted, we care for the poor and needy, we weep over the lost and seek those who may be found. Clearly, we are not what we once were when we were steeped in the sinfulness of our self-centeredness—when we were our own gods and determined our own destiny. We have traded rags for riches, and what change that trade has wrought. We are new creations in Christ. We have changed. And so, we embrace change. We allow the growing, maturing work of the Holy Spirit to infiltrate our lives to greater degrees each and every day. And we change more and more, into the likeness of the true person God designed from the outset.