Discipleship is an ongoing process; it doesn’t just happen overnight. One of my favorite “preacher stories” is the one about the farmer who went to the city for the first time. He saw a mall and had never seen a mall before. He was with his son and his wife. He told them, “I’ve got to see this place. I’ve never seen anything like it.” So, they went in and started wondering around.

Inside the mall was a bank. When they walked inside the bank, they saw the vault. They didn’t quite know what it was because the farmer was used to saving his money in rudimentary ways. He would either put it under his pillow or bury it in his backyard. They all stood there trying to figure out exactly what it was.

At one point a little old lady walked inside the vault. She was very old She could barely walk and used a cane to move around. She walked shakily into the vault. About thirty seconds later, a beautiful, well-figured young lady comes out of the vault. The farmer saw the old lady go in, and a gorgeous young woman come out. He got excited, and leaned over to his son and said, “Hurry up, and go get your mother!”

He wanted an instant transformation! But the farmer’s wife would not have been instantly transformed and neither will we in our spiritual journey. Transformation doesn’t happen immediately; however, we do have control over the speed at which the process takes place.

“So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.” (2 Corinthians 3:18 NLT)

In Christ,
Jonathan Anderson