WANTED: TRANSFORMATION NOT JUST CHANGE
'And we all, with unveiled face, continually seeing as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are progressively being transformed into His image from [one degree of] glory to [even more] glory, which comes from the Lord, [who is] the Spirit.' (2 Corinthians 3:18 AMP)
Have you watched a full-grown, completely formed butterfly emerge from it's pupa cocoon and immediately fly away? Scientists call it complete metamorphosis - a progressive change in stages from egg to larva to pupa to adult. But the change only ultimately produces another butterfly, not a moth, showing no shift in nature. A grain of corn can grow to become a cob of maize, producing more corn, but a piece of wood when burnt in fire becomes charcoal, an irrevocable change. The Merrien Webster dictionary defines paradigm shift as a change that happens when the usual way of thinking about or doing something is replaced by a new and different way. Example is the experience of Apostle Paul when he had an encounter with The Light and became totally transformed from a murderous persecutor of believers in Jesus Christ to a harvester of unsaved souls into God's kingdom.
In chemistry, physical change is reversible but not chemical change. It appears what our nation needs now is not just outward observable change which can be reversed, but inward change - an alteration of mindset. We need an encounter with The Light! We need a transformation, a shift in thinking, in moral behaviour, in enterprise and in governance. I remember the military regime in the eighties when the leadership introduced the moral revolution termed 'War Against Indiscipline' (WAI). Nigerians demonstrated a behavioural transformation that would have shifted our nation from the path of decay to that of progress and greatness or even righteousness. But it was soon truncated by another meaningless coup, and we slid back into our old ways, our cocoon.
Today we are still gropping in darkness yearning for the desired light which seems so elusive because of corruption, greed, ignorance and mismanagement. These devilish monsters have dug so deep into nearly every fabric of our society that ridding the nation of them has become like fighting a hydra-headed monster, a gargantuan task. Singapore was another under developed country like ours at a time, but she is now considered one of the top economies of the world and that came because of the transformational vision of the Singaporean leadership, and the people recourse to embracing hard work, sacrifice, enterprise, education, patriotism and grassroot development as their national fronts.
Our opening scripture does not talk of mere habitual resolution, it is talking about the need for progressive transformation, a shift from the natural to the supernatural, a revival of heart and mind. Hear what Joel the prophet of God says, “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants [believers in Christ] I will pour out My Spirit in those days..." (Joel 2:28-29)
Jesus came to save the world, completed His work and returned to the Father, leaving His Spirit to continue with us. It is this Spirit of Jesus that turned Saul from a hounding politico-religious bigot to a tireless servant of Jesus freshly named Paul. That same Spirit is the One whom we saints of today must call upon in a concerted and intense intercessory effort to revive the hearts of all Nigerians, both the leaders and the led, to renew our scorched Nigerian hearts to recourse to the path of healing and righteousness. We need an encounter with The Light. Let there be revival in the land, O Lord!
olusegunisaac2018@gmail.com
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