Do you like my new coat? Actually it is an old coat, I’ve had it for eight years and I bought it at a thrift shop so who knows how old it really is. During some of the wet and dreary days of April here I had a hankering for a new coat, something brighter. The days were dull and seemed endless. I was sharing with my sister about ‘my old blue coat’ and she said ‘why don’t you paint it?’ It wouldn’t be the first time I painted a coat.
So I did, and here is the result! Do you like it? I love it. While I was painting it I wasn’t too sure but as soon as I put it on and looked in the mirror ‘ZING!’ It was like spring flowers and icecream all at once. It made me so happy just looking at it.
And you know, just on a hanger, it doesn’t look as fabulous. It has to be worn to come alive.
Kind of like my Bible. Just sitting there on my desk is not when it comes alive. It has to be opened and read to come alive.
There is a bible verse from Romans 12:2 that says “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
I make no secret about my life with depression. This morning my thoughts were particularly low. So I decided to take me and my inside thoughts, outside for a long walk. I always walk, but today, longer, until I could feel my thoughts improving, until I could feel my inside thoughts leaving me. When I was done I left my inside thoughts outside and I was transformed!
Does that mean I can expect to have a perfect day from now on? Not at all, but at least I shed some of my negative thoughts.
Transformation! It can come in so many ways. Of course our God can transform us into his image and he wants to. His word, the Bible, can transform our thoughts. Paint can transform a coat! And a nice walk can transform your thoughts.
What kind of transformation do you need today?