The key to transformation

Who He is transforms who we are.

How many years have I spent trying to systematically eliminate sin from my life? I see something in myself that I know isn't in line with the Kingdom, and so I make it a goal and I put it on my to-do list and I set myself against it until it is vanquished. And that can be effective, to a point. I've eliminated some habits in this way, and I've learned and I've grown because God is gracious and He uses whatever we're ready to do.

But here's the thing. I may recently have discovered the fast track to transformation. And it, like everything else in this Kingdom, is upside-down and backwards. Ready?

Sit still. Fix your eyes on Jesus. That's it.

It seems simplistic. It is simple. But it's what He tells us to do (Hebrews 12:2- fix our eyes on Him, Matthew 6:33- seek first His Kingdom, Psalm 46:10- be still and know that He is God).

Be still, and know that I am God. In the King James, it says "cease striving" and know...

When we turn from Martha into Mary, leaving all the doing and the trying to be worthy, and we just sit at His feet, everything else falls away. Worry will fall away. Insecurity will fall away. Sin, itself, will actually fall away as we are transformed just by knowing Him. As we behold Him, we become like Him.

So I set aside my to-dos and my goals and my areas for self-improvement for a while, and I replace them all with one thing: behold Him. Sit at His feet. Rest in His presence.

He doesn't wait until we're perfect to love us. He loves us in order to make us perfect. He washes us with water by the Word (Ephesians 5:26). Time with Him is the key to transformation.