Richard Ray: Change is essential in how we live for God

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With a new year come changes in our lives. We set goals and challenges in hope that by meeting them, the current year will be better than the previous year. If we meet those goals and conquer those challenges, then we might accomplish something great. However, for most, it will not happen—not because we fail to try, but we fail to change.

richard ray130Richard RayAs pastors, we always are asking our congregations to change. But so often, we are the ones who do not change.

Change is inevitable. Change may come by a slow, gradual process, as in getting older. Or it might happen all at once with an unexpected event. Change comes for many in the form of a new job or a new relationship. And with today’s new technology, change seems to happen right in the palm of our hand, in how we connect with people.

I often find it amusing when someone claims, “No one is going to change who I am.” When I hear that statement, I think of a baby’s diaper. Having five children, I understand the importance of changing a baby’s diaper. That diaper change is not only important to the child, but it also is important to those around the child, because it removes the stench in the air. Christians who are unwilling to be changed leave a stench in the air that not only effects who they are, but also those around them.

Change is essential in how we live for God. We must allow the Lord to mold us and shape us into his image. That can only happen when we are willing to be changed. God calls us to have an inner change, which produces an outward change in how we live and serve him. When I was growing up, my mother knew exactly what to say to produce an inner change in me that would produce an outer change she desired to see. She would simply say, “Wait until your father gets home.” Those words of truth compelled me to change into the image she desired for me.

texas baptist voices right120As God’s children and as God’s servants, we need to react the same way, for it was Jesus who said in Revelation 22:12-13: “See, I am coming soon, and my reward is with me, to repay all according to their deeds. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” The knowledge that our Lord and Savior, our Father in heaven, is coming home soon should create an inner change that produces an outer change that shapes us into the image he desires for us.

I pray the truth of Christ’s own words—he is coming soon—will compel us all to change into the image he desires for us. Let this new year bring about a change in you that will make you the servant leader God has called you to be.

Remember, God has called you to serve him, but God has not called you to serve alone. Let us be your advocate, your resource and your prayer partner as you fulfill your calling. Until next time, please visit our website, www.bivocational.com.

Richard Ray is executive director of the Bivocational/Small Church Association and director of missions for the Tri-Rivers Baptist Area. You can reach him at [email protected].


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