Transformation and Thankfulness

I know this isn't directly related to any particular fruit, but this topic has been on my mind and I feel I should write something about it. I hope you get something out of it too!

Last night I was watching The Biggest Loser and I started thinking. I know, crazy right? :) Anyway, it was an episode where they were looking back at the lives and experiences of past contestants. I noticed that nearly every one of them had taken jobs in fitness after their Biggest Loser experience was over. Each one was so excited about the transformation in their bodies that they couldn't help but tell others, help others experience the same, and devote their whole lives to the fitness and nutrition that helped to bring about the change in the first place. When we experience transformation and are changed for the better, the natural response is absolute devotion and excitement.

So, when God transforms our lives, why don't we react in the same way? Where is the excitement that pushes us to tell everyone we know and even people we don't know? Where is the passion that moves us to devote our entire lives and all of our energy to that which has brought about this change in us? Where is our utter devotion? God has transformed not our earthy, temporary bodies, but our internal, eternal souls. What could surpass that? We need to get excited about this!

So often, I think, the pressures of this world we live in cause us to squelch the passion and excitement we feel at the moment of transformation (or the moment when we first realize we have been transformed). We are embarrassed to proclaim our excitement. We are ashamed to be labeled a "crazy Christian" and don't want to deal with all that entails. But we shouldn't allow the world to kill our excitement over this! I'm not saying we need to talk about it every minute of every day, but let's allow ourselves to be excited, to be passionate, and to tell people about what we've experienced. God can use our passion, our joy, to touch the lives of those around us whether we know it or not. We limit Him and His purpose when we push those feelings down and react from embarrassment instead of from the joy and fervor that God has given as a result of His work in our lives.

Instead of squelching, let's try to let our excitement show. Let's share it with others! What better day than Thanksgiving for this lesson? Today and every day, I am so thankful for God's work in my life. I am eternally grateful that even when I didn't care, God refused to let me go. He actively pursued me and pursues me still, for I am His child. He continues to work in my life and for that I am thankful too. What a great God we serve! He is deserving of our thankfulness and praise! Every good thing that we have and experience in this life is a gift, a precious gift from Him. Praise God!!

Another thing that has been on my mind is our (often) failure to devote our time and efforts to learning more about God and spending time with Him. Think of something that you enjoy doing, a hobby perhaps, and think back to the time when you first discovered it. For me, that is cake decorating and coming up with new recipes for cakes and cookies. I discovered the tools for this earlier this year and, ever since then, I cannot get enough of it. I read everything I can; I look at pictures and learn new techniques; I practice a lot and try new things. In short, I devote a lot of my free time to this new hobby. Are you the same with your hobby and/or passion?

I was thinking of this and wondering why we don't react this way to our faith and our love for God. I can spend all day looking at cake books and reading recipes and techniques, but some days it's all I can do to pick up my Bible and read what God has for me. How said is that?! Shouldn't we be showing this same passion to God? Why is it that I'm not obsessed with reading God's word, hearing his techniques for my life, and devoting time to him? Perhaps this passion can come only through prayer and practice. Can you pledge with me to make this a larger part of our lives? To be so excited about what God has done, is doing, and will do that we simply cannot get enough? That we rush in our free time to read the Bible, to pour over God's word and put His techniques into practice. That we come to a place where we think about it all the time and come up with new ways to live God's principles. How great is your Word, O God, how wonderful your precepts. They are like life to me! (see Psalm 119)