Quite often at our house this little “almost” five year old boy pays a visit to spend the day with Grandma and Grandpa. He is so much like his mother and father and talks non-stop, except when he is taking a nap. Lately, the topic of his conversations is all about transformers. Seeing transformers. Watching transformers. And, Grandma, can you make me a Bumblebee Transformer costume for Halloween? When is Halloween? We better get started.”
It’s a good thing “Google” exists in the world so that grandparents can keep up on all the latest “in” things that their grandkids are obsessed with. So, while I do know about transformers a bit, I decided to dig a bit deeper and see what it was really all about.
Transformers were first invented by a Japanese toy company, Takara. Takara and Hasbro quickly partnered to take the invention to the masses in 1983. Hasbro went all out and worked with Marvel Comics to produce an animated TV series in addition to comic books. I do remember transformers being a common topic in our home when my son was small in the late 80’s and early 90’s, but since we didn’t have a television set at that time, his exposure was somewhat limited. But what an imagination… what little boy isn’t pulled into the story line of cars, machines, robots, bad guys, good guys…and the transformation from a car to a robot is pretty much awesome. Then in 2007, the transformer craze reached new heights with the release of a live-action full length motion picture. Two additional movies later and it appears that transformers are here to stay.
According to little Aaron, it all comes down to whether you are a bad transformer (a.k.a. decepticon) or a good transformer (autobot). Here is my little guy’s explanation regarding transformers.
In my day-to-day life, I actually would love to have a household transformer. Can you imagine? A machine that can make home-made bread…and then transform into a maid to clean up afterwards. Or, when you are stuck in that after-work commute and traffic is just crawling along, it would be nice to have your car transform into a helicopter to get you out of traffic sooner and home to your loved ones. I totally get it!
That got me thinking about transformations that happen around us all the time…in God’s wonderful creation of nature. A tadpole into a frog. An egg into a bird? Or, the one that always amazes me still today….a caterpillar that goes into a chrysalis and comes out a beautiful butterfly. Totally cool!
But this whole transformer thing does not stop with a toy or a movie. God, the Almighty, is the ultimate transformer. He can take our struggling lives and transform us into something totally beautiful.
2 Corinthians 5:17 says,
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
What does this all mean to us today? For me personally, I have to do a life-check once in a while. As humans, we are unfortunately….well human. And as humans we are prone to moments of selfishness, bitterness, anger, jealously and a whole other list of all the things our mothers told us not to be. For many exhibiting these attributes gets to be so common and comfortable that we don’t even see what it is doing to those around us as well as ourselves.
In the Old Testament in Ezekiel it says,
“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh”
So here is my transformer prayer.
• God, transform my heart so that I may love You more.
• God, transform my mind so that I may know You more.
• God, transform my body so that I may serve You more.
• God, transform my life so that I will not be a “decepticon” and can fully share Your love to those around me.
• God, transform me into an “autobot” that I may sacrificially help those in need around me.
For me, this is about getting “me” out of the way so that God can use His plan for me to impact people in a positive way. This comes from taking a daily check of our life:
1. What can I do today to lift someone else up?
2. What can I do today to serve someone?
3. What or who needs my prayers today? Does that prayer involve some kind of service or action?
4. What can I remove from my day in order to make time for what God has for me to do?
To quote Optimus Prime;
“The greatest weakness of most humans is their hesitancy to tell others how they love them while they are still alive”
Wow…is that truly our greatest weakness? Again, it’s all about setting aside “me” and looking at those around me like God looks at them. And He always looks at everyone with love!
Here’s a few ideas on how to put your transforming love into action:
1. Start each week with a list of those around you. Make special note of anyone that needs prayer. Put a star next to anyone that needs a love action. Then write down what day and time you will do that action on your calendar.
2. Set aside at least 15 minutes every day to pray for those on your list. Write out your prayer in a journal to keep track of those you have prayed for and add notes and updates as time goes on when you see an answer to that prayer.
3. Keep yourself in fighting shape…emotionally, physically, and spiritually. There is a battle going on you know! Only by being healthy yourself can you be ready and able to serve and meet the needs of others.
So in the words of Optimus Prime, I would say to you…time to roll out! What will you transform today?
Leave a Reply