We...are being transformed...

--> "His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness." Isaiah 52:14b

Rev. Todd Evans, pastor of Parkview Baptist Church, gave an unforgettable analogy as the devotional at Community Bible Study two weeks ago. He told the story of a man whose parents were trapped in a fire inside their house. Their son dashed into the flames in an attempt to rescue his parents, but to no avail. His mother and father perished in the fire, and the heroic son was badly burned himself. His face was so marred, scarred, and ugly that he became a recluse, hiding from his family as well as everyone else. Food trays were set outside his bedroom door three times a day, and they disappeared into his room only after he felt confident no one was watching. This went on day after day, month after month, until almost two years had passed.

The man's wife made an appointment with a plastic surgeon. When she told him the story, the doctor assured her that he could help her husband, that he could rebuild his face. The wife replied that her husband wouldn't allow anyone to help him and then told the doctor that wasn't the purpose of her visit. She had come instead, she said, to ask the plastic surgeon to make her face like that of her husband's--marred, scarred, ugly. "Then," she said, "perhaps he will let me back into his life."

The doctor gasped in amazement at such sacrificial love but told the wife he was unwilling to do what she asked. He said he would be willing, however, to go and talk to her husband. The wife did not believe that her husband would listen but agreed to let the doctor give it a try.

The doctor knocked on the husband's door, introduced himself, and assured the husband that he could help him. No response. The doctor described the procedure by which he could remake the husband's face. No response. Then the doctor told the husband how his wife had visited him and the incredible request she had made. At last the doctor heard the slow shuffling of feet and saw the door knob begin to turn.

Jesus became like us so that one day we could become like Him.

"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory....."  II Corinthians 3:18a

Thank You, Jesus!!!!!