Someone said to me that people don't change. That change is bad. That we should stick to the tried and true. Don't change horses in mid-stream. Well perhaps when it comes to the selection or choice of some things we are creatures of habit. Consider the following. What we have here in the above photograph is the progression of my glasses over the last 3 decades. Can you see a common theme? Apparently my style of glasses is making a styling comeback. I am actually leading the eye-wear fashion parade. Can you guess the style of my next pair of glasses? If you said, "Exactly the same" then you are correct... kinda. The hidden change is that I have made the transition into progressive lenses. "Progressive" - not bi-focal, not old-fogies glasses, not tri-focal.... they are "progressive". Perhaps it is just a marketing terminology to make the transition into old age more palatable. But after getting a refresher course in the physics of lens making, progressive is a very appropriate terminology for the complex shape of the lens.
That being said, though I may not have changed my style of glasses over,... well let's be honest here and say my lifetime, I do believe that people can and do change. Actually I am in the business of people-change. God is in the business of people-change. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" (2Co.5:17) I can understand the skeptics who have tried to implement self-change and have failed. The reality is that true change can only come about through faith in Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit.
As Christians, we are in the business of change - personally, corporately, socially, and globally. If we cannot see change happening within ourselves from our past life before Christ, to our current life in Christ, then something is wrong. Unlike getting progressive lenses to correct our vision, our lives require a more radical measure to make a change. It isn't just a matter of a change in perspective but a matter of change in personhood.
As we have been investigating the life of Abram and his journey of faith, we have seen quite a bit of change in the person of Abram. From his initial calling to learning obedience to having faith in nothing else but God, Abram slowly and progressively is changed into the man that God was able to credited to him righteousness and honored in the Bible as a man of great faith. His journey of faith has been... well... progressive. In our instantaneous society, sometimes it is hard to understand and accept progressive. As the old saying goes, "Slow and steady wins the race". How is your race going? Have you left the gate? Are you out of steam? Or has it been ... progressive?
