Amazing Transformation

This devotional was written by Jim Liebelt

Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. —1 John 3:2

A new plant at the Columbia Ridge Landfill in Arlington, Oregon is doing some remarkable things these days with trash. It’s the first commercial plant in the United States to use plasma gasification to convert municipal household garbage into gas products that can then be burned as fuel or sold to industries for other uses without producing harmful emissions.

The science is beyond my understanding, but the bottom line is this: the company is transforming trash into fuel through an environmentally friendly process. It simply sounds too good to be true!

This “garbage-in/fuel-out” technology is an amazing transformation—one that we can all marvel at. Yet how much more we should marvel at an even greater transformation—the one God performs in the lives of people! God takes people like you and me, who were according to the Scriptures, “dead in transgressions and sins” and breathes new life into us. That is truly an amazing transformation!

But wait, there’s more! God not only breathes new life into us when we respond to Him by faith, but then He continues transforming us day by day to become more like Jesus! God has promised to continue His transforming work for the rest of our lives!

And if that’s not enough, a final, complete transformation will take place one day when we meet Jesus face to face—and we become “like Him.”

There is no doubt that transforming garbage to fuel is a great accomplishment. Yet these accomplishments amount to a dim light when compared to brightness and glory of the transforming work that God engages in, bringing us from death to life and remaking us into the image of His Son. Thanks be to God!

GOING DEEPER:

Today, be sure to take time to thank God for the amazing transformation that He has worked in your life.

FURTHER READING:

 Ephesians 2:1-4 ;  Colossians 2:13-14 ;  2 Corinthians 5:17 ,  2 Corinthians 3:18 ;  Philippians 1:6  

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