Lord, I know You can save me from my sins, but can You save me from myself? God can save me from the effects of my hate, but can He save me from being hateful? Can He change me so that I am no longer stingy, suspicious, jealous, cruel, and moody? If salvation means anything, it must work where sin begins, not merely where it ends.
Lord, that is what Jesus came to do—to change people, not just their record books. He came to erase the criminal’s record; but, even more, He came to erase the criminal’s repeatability. He not only came to clear the criminal in court, but to keep him out of court thereafter.
“Thou art Simon … thou shalt be called Cephas, … a stone” (John 1:42, KJV). By that statement Jesus showed Himself to be the Lord of what is to come. Changeable men are transformed into firm, rocklike men. He did not say, “You are Simon the sinner; you shall become Simon the saint.” Simon became a rock. That is the wonderful thing about Jesus—He sees us not as we are but as what we can become. Even more, He is able to change us from what we are into what He sees us capable of becoming.
I am a planned-for-the-future man. I am destined for God’s eternal drama. The eyes of the all-seeing Sculptor have scanned me and set me aside for developing. Lord, now I see what You meant when You said, “He has … set eternity in their heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). We are being made for tomorrow, for the future, for eternity. To look within ourselves now and be discouraged is to miss it all. God, You look at us in your tomorrow and rejoice over us as one finding great spoil.
“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).
Daily with the King 