Change, Wisely

1 Corinthians 7:18-20 — Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God. Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called.

I heard somebody say something today, for the second time, that caught my ear. “All change”, they said, “is good.”. Well, the point was being made in a particular context, in which it made perfect sense. It did make me think, though, about the general principle.
Let’s start with some non-negotiable Biblical truths.
First, God does not change: “For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed” (Malachi 3:6). Warning — do NOT try to really wrap your head around the idea of an unchanging God interacting with a changing creation. Just take God’s word for it!
Second, we will all change: “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”(1 Corinthians 15:52-53). We are not, as we are, fit to inherit the kingdom of God. We need to be transformed to be ready. We will be transformed. It must be so, and it will be so.
So, we get saved. We are heading to an unavoidable change. So should everything in our lives change? A lot changes — but must everything change? Paul makes it clear, in his letter to the Corinthians, that the truth is very different.
When we are called into the service of God, adopted into the family, much certainly changes. We might be married or unmarried. We could be workers or bosses, rich or poor. We may be healthy, or sick. Whatever we are it is not an accident nor a mistake! “Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.”(Psalms 40:5 KJV). Knowing this, we ought not to jump rashly to change …
In fact I have come to believe, over time, that to change anything without a clear understanding that it is at God’s direction is to be guilty of the sin of pride … And to fail to change at God’s direction is to be guilty of the sin of disobedience!


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