Transformation Is Desirable

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
–John 10:10

God is judging our hearts right now, and one day we will give a final accounting of our lives. That is why spiritual transformation is essential. But the transformation of our hearts is also desirable. In John 10:10, Jesus said, “The thief [Satan] comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Jesus and Satan have completely different plans for your life. Satan wants to steal your peace of mind and your contentment. He wants to kill every relationship you have with unforgiveness. He wants to destroy your faith in God’s wisdom and goodness. That is his plan: to steal, kill, and destroy.

But you do not have to be a victim of Satan’s plan. Jesus has a great plan for your life. He says you can experience overflowing peace in spite of your world collapsing around you. You can experience grace toward other people in spite of what they do to you. You can have confidence even when your future is uncertain. That is Jesus’s plan for you: to have life and have it more abundantly. And you do not have to wait until you die to experience that. Eternity is not something in the future; eternity is a continuum that begins right now and extends forever and ever. When Jesus said, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly,” He was not talking about life after the grave; He was talking about a quality of life that begins right now and extends forever and ever. And the only way to experience that kind of life is by the transformation of your heart.

Imagine somebody comes to you and says, “I would like you to invest in a business that I am starting up. Now, it is going to take about ten years for this business to become profitable. But in about ten years, you might triple or quadruple your money.” Do you invest your money in a dead investment that returns nothing for ten years but has a potential payoff in the future? Or do you put your money in a bank account and earn interest every year for ten years?

A lot of people think that living the Christian life is like a dead investment that only pays off in the future. They think, “If I do what God commands me to do, am I going to make sacrifices for which I will not realize the benefit until after I die?” God says no. When you start becoming like Jesus Christ in your attitudes, affections, and actions, you begin reaping dividends immediately in this life–dividends that begin now and extend throughout eternity. The transformation of our heart is not only essential, but it is also desirable for our lives.

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Today’s devotion is excerpted from “Simple Truths About A Transformed Heart” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2008.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org