By Jennifer R.Do you ever watch those TV shows where they take some ugly, worthless, beaten up item that you or I would probably throw in the trash and transform it into something beautiful and useful?
It struck me today that that's a lot like what God is doing with us. He takes ugly, worthless sinners and transforms them into beautiful trophies of His grace.
And He doesn't stop there! He keeps refining us and beautifying us until ultimately (in heaven), we are completely transformed and perfected. I think we would be unrecognizable, except we are told that we will somehow know each other.
Can you imagine it? I can just see us now, walking around heaven, saying something like, "You made THIS out of THAT old thing? Incredible!" We will be utterly amazed with the Master Craftsman.
One effect of watching TV shows like that is that they cause us to look at "junk" in a whole new way. Our creative juices get flowing and instead of rushing to throw something away, we start looking for ways to "re-purpose" it.
What if we looked at people that way? Instead of mentally writing someone off as hopeless, maybe we should be imagining what a miraculous transformation God could make in their lives. Imagine how useful they could be made under the skillful hand of God.
Would that affect the way we treat them? The way we speak to them? The way we pray for them?
I think it would.
Is there someone in your life you're tempted to give up on? If so, try imagining them as the newest recipient of God's Extreme Makeover: Heart Edition. And then pray that God would make something even more beautiful out of their lives for His glory.
Re-posted from Jennifer's blog, Reflections by Jennifer.
