James Calvert was a missionary to the cannibals on the Fiji Islands in the 19th century. His faithful work bore fruit in the lives of those accustomed to taking the lives of others. Years later an English Earl visited the Islands and met the chief of the tribe. In their conversation, the Earl was very critical of the chief’s conversion to Christianity, “You’re a great leader, but it’s a pity you’ve been taken in by those missionaries. No one believes the Bible anymore. People are tired of the threadbare story of Christ dying on a cross for the sins of mankind. They know better now. I’m sorry you’ve been so foolish as to accept their story.”
The old chief responded with a gleam in his eyes, “See that great rock over there? On it we smashed the heads of our victims. Notice the furnace next to it? In that oven we formerly roasted the bodies of our enemies. If it hadn’t been for those good missionaries and the love of Jesus that changed us from Cannibals into Christians, you’d never leave this place. You had better thank the Lord for the gospel – if it weren’t for the Bible and its salvation message, you would now be our supper!”
A Christian is truly a demonstration of a transformed life – one that is supernatural in nature and scope. Consider the transformation:
>We were dead in our sin but now we are alive in Christ.
>We were following the prince of darkness but now we are following the prince of peace. >We were bound for hell but now we are bound for heaven.
Talk about a transformation! Paul said it best in 2 Cor.5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.” And yet for many Christians, this transformation doesn’t seem all that obvious – either to them or to those around them. But whether one realizes it or not, God is continually at work in those who have given themselves to Him. “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2Cor.3:18)
How is your transformation coming? Are you allowing God to do the work in you that He desires? Do others see Jesus in you?
In a world surrounded with darkness, may we reflect the Lord’s glory so that others might see and hear about the difference that Jesus makes.
To His Glory,
Pastor Bill