The Transformation

I had to do something.  The smell was really getting intense.....  Those three black bananas had to go!!

I hated to throw them away...one banana, fine...but THREE?  I would feel guilty...knowing they could be put to good use.  I checked the recipe...yep had all of the other ingredients.  Banana bread for tomorrow's breakfast!!
As the shortening, eggs and sugar were mixing, I began to peel the bananas.  They were so gross to the senses..  Gooey, smelly and ugly...yuck.  I added the bland flour, soda and salt with a little bit of flavoring.
Into the hot oven it went.  After a few minutes the strong smell of the rotton bananas began to change...ummmm!  To look at it, you couldn't tell that anything good was happening, it still looked like batter.  But your nose can tell you...something's different.  By the end of the hour, you're ready to climb into the oven to eat it, it smells so good!!  Then you see the change that those three rotten bananas have gone through...into a beautiful, golden loaf of bread.

I began to think about that transformation process...and how it related to life. 

Now work with me here...don't be offended and think I'm comparing you to a decaying piece of fruit!  But...there are a few similarities. 

We may not be considered a piece of fruit...but we are rotten.  To the core.  God's Word says that "We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind."~Isaiah 64:6.  Inside, we are all like that black banana...full of sin and corruption.  Left on our own, we are disgusting.  To look at us...no one would want us, we would be considered an article for the garbage pail.

But then Someone picks us up.  Someone Who thinks that we are not destined for the trash heap.  As preparations are made, unbeknownst to us, He begins to take away our peeling.  It is not a pretty process.  Inside, what He finds is raw material.  Soft and moldable.  It has been neglected and left to rot, not knowing it's potential. He adds some other seemingly bland material to our lives.  Material or events that by themselves wouldn't mean a thing.  But when He mixes them together, something begins to take place.  A little flavoring of life is added to make the end result more appealing.

Then suddenly we are thrown into the fire of a hot oven.  Events take place that can't possibly be good for us.  It's so uncomfortable.  How can this be a positive thing? 

But then, a fragrance begins to slowly emerge.  The fragrance of change.  To look at us, no one could tell there has been a change, but something is definitely happening. 

We remain in the fire...and we begin to notice a difference in us.  We are growing. All of the events and circumstances that have happened to us have 'mixed together' to form us into something different.  We have a Master Chef that is keeping a watchful Eye on our oven.  He knows the exact moment that we should be removed from the heat.  Once we are, the results are amazing.  What was once a repulsive piece of produce is now a new creation.  Our Master Chef has made a new thing in us.  He has created a new heart in our innermost being. 

2 Corinthians 5:17 states, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"  Christ does the transforming.  In the same way that the bananas can hang on their hook for a month and 'wish and wish' to be changed...it can't happen.  For two reasons...one, bananas can't wish, and two...they can't change by themselves either.  It takes the Hand of the Master Chef to mold and mix and bring His new handiwork into being.  We just have to be willing to go through the peeling process and to go into the fire that is necessary, to grow.  We have to resign our 'will' and give it to the Father.

We will have to go through this transformation a number of times.  But know that each time, God has a plan and the end result will ultimately be for our good.

Surrender your life and see what the Lord can make of you.  It will be a pleasing sacrifice that He will turn into a beautiful reward.