Redeemed But Not Yet Renovated
“The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse — who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9 NRSV
Series: Jesus I Surrender All
Devotional: 1 of 4
Imagine your life is like a house with many rooms. Throughout your life, Jesus stands at your front door, gently knocking, waiting for you to open the door of your life to Him. His knocking represents an open invitation into a personal relationship with God made possible through His life, death, and resurrection (see 1 Peter 1:3-5). When we take that first step of surrender by opening the door of our house and inviting Jesus into our lives to be our Savior and Lord, we begin a lifelong journey of spiritual transformation into His image.
But because Jesus does not require that we clean ourselves up before inviting Him into our life, we have been redeemed by His blood but not yet transformed into His image. In the initial stages of transformation, we spend most of our time with Him in the entryway of our house. Not because He doesn't want a complete tour of our place but mainly because most of the other rooms in our house remain closed off to Him. We are redeemed but not yet renovated.
In this series, we will consider the role that the discipline of surrender plays in renovating our hearts. We will look at the intersection of self-denial and Jesus' words calling each of us to "take up our cross and follow him." And we will consider if change is really possible, and if so, does the Bible provide a framework for how change happens?
But first, in order to progress on our journey of being formed into the image of Christ in every area of our lives, we need to understand and acknowledge the true condition of our hearts. In the words of Dallas Willard, "We must see the soul and the person in its ruined condition, with its malformed and dysfunctional mind, feelings, body, and social relations before we can understand that it must be delivered and reformed and how that can be done."
Additionally, the prophet Jeremiah paints a picture of our "ruined condition" this way, "The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse - who can understand it?" (See Jeremiah 17:9) And the Apostle Paul writing to the church in Rome, said, "There is no one who is righteous, not even one; there is no one who has understanding, there is no one who seeks God. All have turned aside... There is no fear of God before their eyes (Romans 3:10-11, 18)."
I know these words can be hard to accept, especially in a world where we tend to see ourselves as generally good people. However, even after taking our initial step to let Jesus come into our house, we need to come to grips with the reality that we still have many rooms that have been formed by a world set against the ways of God. Thus, we must understand where we are starting from on our journey to become more like Jesus.
Today, as painful as it may sound, ask God to reveal to you one or more of the rooms in your house that have not yet been formed into His image. Rooms where the door is locked, and you are sitting alone in your mess, unwilling to surrender control. Take heart that Jesus is standing on the other side of the door, patiently knocking, waiting for you to let him come in. He desires nothing more than to come in and transform this area of your life into His image, but He will not force His way into the room.
OnThe3rdDay Devotionals
Devotionals that illustrate Biblical principles in a simple and short format that can be applied to your everyday life.
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