TRANSFORMATION

Each year at Church, we have a memory verse and this year's is from Romans 12:2 : 

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, 
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

We were asked to think of something that would illustrate this and bring it to Church today, the Sunday after our AGM - designated as Celebration Sunday - when we thank God for the year that has past and pray His blessing on the year that is to come.

I looked up the meaning of the word “transform” and the definition is - 
to make a thorough or dramatic change in the form, appearance or character of something, so I took my “thinking cap” down off the shelf once again, and came up with this:

Many years ago when there was a baker's strike, I started to make my own bread by hand - as there were no such things as bread makers around then.  It used to amaze me when I had kneaded the bread and then put it in a large bowl, to watch it double in size.

So flour, yeast, salt, sugar and oil together with water, were transformed from what they were on their own to a wonderful loaf of bread.

Then came bread makers and Mr. HCB became very good at putting the ingredients into that - and although in a way, it's cheating, it does do a good job.  He made a loaf yesterday with all these ingredients -  a sundried tomato loaf with cheese - and the smell pervaded the whole house - when it had finished baking, it was very hard NOT to slice off the crust and spread it thickly with butter!

When it came out of the bread maker it looked rather battered - as I expect you would if you had been in a bowl with a hook for a couple of hours!  But the main thing is that the various ingredients have been transformed - from what they were to what you see now - and those who came to the Bring & Share lunch after the service all seemed to enjoy it.

I'm sure you get the analogy - we can be transformed by the Holy Spirit but actually sometimes we can look a bit "battered" by what happens to us in our lives.  However, God doesn't want to leave us like that but wants to change us into the likeness of His Son - and that may take time - in fact, for some of us, it takes longer than others.

Sorry I didn’t get round to commenting yesterday - but thank you to all who visited my journal and left stars.