You say, ‘If Christ lives in me, why do I still think and act the way I do?’ A Christian leader explains: ‘The answer is illustrated in a story about a lady who had a small house…at the turn of the century. She was quite wealthy but also quite frugal…People were surprised, then, when she decided to be among the first to have electricity in her home. Several weeks after the installation, a meter reader appeared at her door. He asked her if her electricity was working well, and she assured him it was. “I’m wondering if you can explain something to me,” he said. “Your meter shows scarcely any usage. Are you using your power?” “Certainly,” she answered. “Each evening when the sun sets, I turn on my lights just long enough to light my candles; then I turn them off.” She’s tapped into the power but didn’t use it. Her house is connected but not altered. Don’t we make the same mistake? We, too – with our souls saved but our hearts unchanged – are connected but not altered. Trusting Christ for salvation but resisting transformation. We occasionally flip the switch, but most of the time we settle for shadows. What would happen if we left the light on? What changes would occur if we set about the task of dwelling in the radiance of Christ? No doubt about it: God has ambitious plans for us. The same one who saved your soul longs to remake your heart. His plan is nothing short of a total transformation.’ ‘He decided…to shape [our] lives…along the same lines as the life of his Son’ (Romans 8:29 MSG). Today, use your God-given power.

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.