Today's Devotional
“Changed!”
Do you remember the time that God changed your heart? Christians can recount the time when they changed spiritually. Can you imagine seeing someone changed right before your eyes? Physically? Peter and the disciples saw just that, when Jesus was changed in front of them.
Luke 9:28 Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening. 30 And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32 But Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him. 33 Then it happened, as they were parting from Him, that Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said.
34 While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were fearful as they entered the cloud. 35 And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” 36 When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone. But they kept quiet, and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen.
Decades after it happened, Peter wrote about the awesome moment when Jesus was transfigured on a mountain before their very eyes. Peter said “For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory. And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.” 2 Peter 1:16-18
The disciples who witnessed that event saw his glory, and they never forgot it. It changed their lives forever.
That, says the apostle Paul, is the secret of our own metamorphosis: “We all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord‘s glory, are being transformed into his image” (2 Corinthians 3:18).
Pastor Stanley Mast* asks us to imagine looking in a mirror, especially during our teenage years: “Is that a new pimple? Do I need to shave? Is that hair out of place?” That’s the idea behind this text, except that Paul talks about gazing not at himself but at the glory of Christ. Change will come when, as an old hymn says, we “turn [our] eyes upon Jesus, [and] look full in his wonderful face.”
In Greek mythology there’s a story about Medusa, a terrifying woman with snakes for hair. Anyone who looked directly at her would turn to stone. But that was a myth. Paul tells the good news that if you look directly at Jesus in faith, he will transform your stony heart into a heart that beats for God.
We need to turn our eyes to Christ, who was not only transfigured but was also crucified and raised from the dead to live and rule forever. And we will also be transformed to new life.
*some commentary from “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus”, by Rev. Stanley Mast, www.thisistoday.com, March 4, 2011.
***Devotional compiled by Jim Huber***