January 16, 2012

Today’s Meditation Verse:

2 Corinthians 3:17-18
17) Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18) But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

 

I love these two verses.  Just before them Paul is talking to the Corinthians about how a veil covers those who are unbelievers so that they cannot perceive the Word, but when we receive Christ the veil goes away and we understand.

 

Further on in chapter 4 verse 4 he states that the veil is placed there by the god (small ‘g’) of this world.  We know the god of this world to be Satan.  He has been given the right to veil those who are not Christ’s.  But He cannot do that to those of us who have become Christ’s and the veil is removed.

 

The law of Moses was a hardship placed on the Israelites because of their pride.  They were forced to perform and abide by very specific laws and dictates without the aid and assistance of the Holy Spirit.  The struggle to force their flesh to obey continually was oppressive and bitter.

 

But when Christ came to free us from the law there was complete freedom.  With that sweet release we were also given the Holy Spirit to assist us in the transformation process on the inside.

 

We have become completely free to disregard any and all previous spiritual and moral laws.  The tether has been cut, the chains are off and we are free.  And even as you gasp at this thought you must know that for God to transform us internally there could be no bonds externally.

 

This freedom frightens us as a people.  But it does not frighten God.  He is not afraid that you will go unhinged and do crazy things.  We already do that even when we are trying to live by the law.  Our behavior does not bother God.  He sees beyond that.  What bothers God is the lack of transformation on the inside.

 

What God truly wants are a transformed people.  He wants us free to choose, free to live and free to obey or not to obey.

 

When a person’s heart is transformed their behavior will appear as though they are following the rules or the law without consciously attempting to do that.

 

Here is an example that may help you just a bit.  Most vehicles have 4 wheels and 2 axles.  When a vehicle is perfectly aligned, when the back tires are directly in line with the front tires, the vehicle goes forward in a straight line.

 

But through road wear and tear the vehicles alignment often gets skewed and the vehicle tends to pull to the left or to the right.  The driver then has to continually adjust with the steering wheel to compensate for this misalignment.

 

The driver can make the vehicle drive in a straight line with the steering wheel by adding constant pressure to compensate in the opposite direction of the pull.

 

But if you will take that vehicle in and get it adjusted so that the alignment is correct then you can take your hands off of the steering wheel and the vehicle will automatically go in a straight line.

 

Either way the vehicle will go in a straight line, automatically with proper alignment, or by force with constant pressure by the driver.  I know from experience that driving in a vehicle with proper alignment is so much easier than driving one without.  And I never really realize just how out of alignment the car I am driving is until I get it re-aligned and feel the freedom from having to apply constant pressure.

 

God’s desire is not that we go in a straight line merely for the sake of going in a straight line.  God’s desire is that we are internally aligned.  The natural result of that proper alignment is that we go in a straight line.

 

So let me encourage you today as you meditate on these scriptures to seek internal transformation from the Holy Spirit.  Not just for the sake of rule obedience, but for the sake of being internally aligned.

 

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