Change We Can Believe In

Change.
That word is just about everywhere these days: “c-h-a-n-g-e.”
According to Webster’s Dictionary, “change" means: to make different in some particular way; to make radically different; to give a different position, course, or direction; to replace with another; to make a shift from one to another; to undergo a transformation, transition or substitution.
The word “change” is very popular today.
It’s amazing to me how a word like “change” apparently resonates with so many people without them even knowing what is going to “change” or how it is going to “change.” Are people that dissatisfied with what’s going on in their world that any “change” at all is welcome?
Maybe I’m out of touch or something, or just not disgruntled enough, but I prefer there to be a change for the better, rather than just “change.” The word “change” does not, in and of itself, indicate there will be an improvement, enhancement, or advancement of some kind. “Change” does not necessarily mean something “good” is coming.
I can tell you that in the last few months there has been plenty of “change” for which I am none too happy. I have several friends who have lost their jobs – there’s some radical “change” for you. I was forking over a $100 bill to fill up my gas tank – and I didn’t get any “change” back from that. Sales are down, businesses are closing, unemployment is rising. There was enough “change” in my already-small investment portfolio that one would think a withdrawal was made to purchase a brand new car – but the same old cars are in our garage.
Change.
Phooey!

But - on second thought, there is a “change” that really does get me excited. There is a “change” that is so radical - so transforming - that it is really “re-creation,” rather than simply “change.”
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;
the old has gone, the new has come!
2 Corinthians 5:17
This is a “change” that happens at a particular moment in time (when we accept Jesus), but then continues to happen each day thereafter as we are transformed from the inside out. We can’t make this “change” happen externally (by wearing a ‘WWJD’ bracelet, putting a ‘fish’ on our car, or being seen at church) any more than putting lipstick on a pig makes it a supermodel.
That is what is so exciting about this “change” – it is the actual person of Christ working inside of us, striving to “change” more and more of us. He’s not “out there” putting up obstacles and ‘tests’ to help us grow; He’s is inside us, trying to get our hearts and our minds aligned with His.
This “change” doesn’t happen overnight. But it should be happening every day.
The harder you try, the less you’ll “change.” You see, it’s all about letting Him have His way; it has nothing to do with your effort.
Do you feel the “change?” Is it happening to you every day?
Are you ready for the “change?”

Undergoing the change,
Craig Hollingsworth