Becoming

"All mortals tend to turn into the things they are pretending to be" (C.S. Lewis).

I would like to tweak that statement a bit and share my experience with you. I started rejoicing and praising the Lord some time ago, at first by force of will. But it has dawned on me lately that I am a joyful person nowadays. I do not think this is behaviorism or fakery. I suspect that what happens is that God meets you when you take steps to meet Him.

We know that we are commanded to rejoice in Him. By cajoling, by exhorting, by attracting, by precept, and by example, the Lord everywhere bids us to rejoice:

"This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24).

"Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble for me and it is safe for you" (Philippians 3:1).

When we set ourselves to do what He commands, the Lord blesses the effort by swapping our spirit of heaviness for a garment of praise (Isaiah 61:3).

Likewise, when we deliberately walk in holiness, we find ourselves becoming more holy. The unholy things lose their appeal, just naturally. Or rather, supernaturally. We become what we press into. That is why Scripture says:

"Walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh (Galatians 5:16).

"If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit" (Galatians 5:26).

There is a mysterious dynamic here. In order to become what we are, we have to try it on and walk around in it, even if it feels unreal at first. No wonder God talks in terms of "putting on" righteousness and faith and love, etc. (Job 29:14; Isaiah 59:17; Ephesians 6:11). We do not wait for the Spirit to put it on us; He has already given it to us to put on! God can give you faith, but he can't have faith for you!

Teenaged David put on Saul's armor and it didn't fit. But the spiritual things that you and I must try to put on will fit us in short order if we keep them on and walk around in them and get acclimated. This is degree-by-degree transformation of the Saints spoken of in 2 Corinthians 3:18:

"And we all, with unveiled faces, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit."

When I was putting on joy at the beginning, I was "beholding the glory of the Lord," for Jesus also put on joy. And as I was beholding the glory of the Lord, I was being transformed into His image unawares. In the course of time, I realized that I was no longer the same person that I had been at the start of the journey. But it took me by surprise. It is like sitting at my computer and feeling cold, and turning up the thermostat and going back to the keyboard, and then noticing about a half hour later that I am warm. The warming was going on for a while before I started to be aware of it.

To hear commentaries by Andrée Seu, click here.