No. 399
"(GOD) takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into a radical life change" (Rom 2:4 TM). This week I was asked to give some of my ideas on art to a class at the Stratford Baptist Church. Most of the students were more at the senior side of life and had hardly done any art before. As I started to show them how I did a lot of what I do with my art, I realised how it was a bit much for a some of them. It was especially obvious when it came to explaining how I use a computer and printer to prepare most of my stuff. One or two might take on board some of the techniques I use but I fear most of them will stay on the same old track as they have been doing before. One old guy was trying to draw a picture of his deceased wife from a photograph, he had talent but the drawing didn't really look like her at all. I tried to show him how you can trace the outline onto paper by putting it up against the window, but I could see that he wasn't going to do it. I was trained as a commercial artist and that meant that what I was doing had to be pleasing to someone out there other than my mother. I don't know how many times I did some 'good' work that was rejected by the customer and it just became par for the course, no matter how nice I thought it looked. I soon got better at what was necessary for commercial use and what people wanted and paid money for. Many young boys out there do some amazing artwork of skulls with snakes slithering through them but there is little use for stuff like that in the real world. Their mates may like it and maybe mum will say 'well done,' but that's about as far it goes. If you want to have a future in art then you need to 'change' in order for it to be commercially viable. I could see that using a computer to help prepare your artwork was considered too expensive by some, but now days it isn't really that much, but to those who are scared of all that technical stuff it may seem daunting. All this to the novice boggles the mind, but in life there always is a price to pay when you want to make a change. How much do you really want to change? We sacrifice and spend money on the things we value, don't we? When first confronted with the need to change and all that's required the mind shuts down and considers it all too expensive and too much but when you sit down and think it all through its not so bad. If what you're doing isn't working, we need the humility and the flexibility to change things. As Christians we mustn't hide behind deception that "This is the way I have always done it" or "God told me to do it like this" either. We need to embrace change if we want to go forward. Most of us would rather flog a dead horse than bury it, and then try to find a new one, and then risk riding it. Recently I read of the 'Top Ten Strategies for Dealing With a Dead Horse'. See If you recognise yourself in any of them:
I. Buy a stronger whip. 2. Change riders. 3. Appoint 'a committee to study the horse. 4. Find a team to revive the horse. 5. Send out a memo declaring the horse really isn't dead. 6. Hire an expensive consultant to find the real problem. 7. Harness several dead horses together for increased speed and efficiency. 8. Rewrite the standard definition of a 'live' horse. 9. Declare the horse better, faster, and cheaper when dead. 10. Promote the horse to a supervisory position.
Change can be painful, especially if you've been doing things a certain way for a long time, and your identity, your security, and your acceptance is all wrapped up in it. Change can also be painful when it means leaving behind people you love, because they're unable - or unwilling - to move forward with you. But that's the cost of personal growth and success! Paul says God "takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into a radical life change" (Rom 2:4 TM). Today ask God to give you the courage and the willingness to make the changes that need to be made in your life! Usually it's only when we're forced to change, that we discover we actually can. Did you hear about the frog who slipped into a big hole in the road at the bottom of a hill and couldn't get out? Several of his friends tried to help, but finally gave up. "Since you're going to be in there for a while," they said, "we'll go and get you some food." But no sooner had they left than the frog came hopping up behind them. "We thought you couldn't get out!" they exclaimed. "Oh, I couldn't," he replied, "but suddenly there was a big truck coming down the hill right at me - and I discovered that I could." We're more comfortable with old problems, than new solutions. If you believe that nothing should
ever be done for the first time, you'll never see anything done, and nothing will change. I could see that these art students had never seen anything like this before and it left them with a challenge. "Do I stay as I am?" "Do I change?" "Do I spend the money on changing my ways?" There are three times in our lives when we're most receptive to change. First, when we're forced into it. You have to have a problem, before you have a miracle: It's when I have run out of money in the past that I have learnt new things. Second, when we become bored or restless. Never become so satisfied with the way things are, that you're not challenged to reach higher. Third, when we realise that we can change! Nothing sparks the fires of desire more than the sudden realisation that "I don't have to stay this way anymore!" Maybe some of those students thought that when I showed them what could be done with their art. Today, God's goal for you is to make you more like Jesus. He has assigned the Holy Spirit to do whatever it takes to bring this to pass, so let Him have his way in Your life today. Let Him into your 'stinking thinking' and breath some fresh new ideas in there. If God was able to impregnate Mary with the Holy Seed 'Jesus' then how much more can He put some seeds into you that will produce some life changing fruit. Let's aim higher. So often we blame the way we are and all our limitations on others and think that the world needs to change first before we do. The following words are inscribed on the tomb of an Anglican Bishop in Westminster Abbey (A.D. 1100) - they'll make you think. "In my youth my imagination had no limits. I dreamed of changing the world. But as I grew older and wiser, I found that the world would not change, so I decided to change my country. But it, too, seemed immovable. So as I grew into my twilight years, in one last attempt, I settled for changing my family; but alas, they would have none of it. "Now on my death bed I realise that - if only I had first changed myself, then by example, I might have changed my family, and through my family changed my country, and through my country changed the world." Change must begin with you. Furthermore, growth is a race with no finish line. Paul wrote:
"I am working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ saved me for and wants me to be" (Phil 3:12 NLT).
You've got to keep working on yourself! What can you change today? If you really are serious and want to grow and improve, look out for these three great time-wasters in your life:
(1) Laziness: time put to no useful purpose, not even relaxation. (2) Procrastination: opportunities lost that can never be regained. (3) Sloppiness: lack of preparation resulting in time-consuming mistakes. Life is not a dress rehearsal, it's the real thing - so give it all you've got today!
Change can be a painful process! The biggest enemy of change is prejudice. Prejudice is the product of a lazy mind. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus visited a certain house. The crowd was so great that the people spilled over onto the street. Four friends let a sick man down through the roof to the feet of Jesus. Luke records... "And the spirit of the Lord was present to heal." Think of what could have happened that day! Every sickness could have been healed! But the facts are that only one man was healed because of prejudice. The Pharisees were present that day. 'They criticised Him first because He healed the man on the Sabbath day (He kicked their sacred cow). Secondly, they criticised Him for claiming to have the power to forgive sins, so they missed their greatest moment because of prejudice! The Pharisees missed Jesus when He first came because they only saw the scriptures a certain way, they didn't realise that it could be interpreted another way and we too can be the same. So many are missing out because they have blinkers on when it comes to all the benefits of the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. This Saturday morning I had nothing for Sunday and needed two sermons. I started my prayer walk praying in tongues and committed my need to God. By the time I got home I had both messages - hallelujah. If you have found hardness in your spirit, and inflexibility in your attitudes to change, you need to take some time out and ask God to melt you afresh and give you an openness and a hunger for the things of God. This may be some of the most serious and important advice you will ever receive. It will cost you but it's worth it all in the end.