Hiskia Israil Missah
PARL/Youth Director, Southern Asia-Pacific Division

The two key words of this topic are "transformed" and "service." Let us look at "service" first.

In the Jewish culture of Jesus' time a servant washed the feet of a houseguest. Therefore, when Jesus and His disciples entered the upper room to have their last supper, none of the disciples volunteered to wash the others' feet. So Jesus rose from the table, took a basin and towel, and began to wash their feet. They were dumbfounded and embarrassed. But He had told them already: "Whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: and whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all" (Mark 10:43, 44).

Jesus tried to correct their pride: "Do you understand what I have done for you?" (John 13:12, NIV). He wanted to show them that if their Lord was a servant, how much more should His disciples be one.

Jesus showed us by example what it means to serve: "For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you" (verse 15). Service is fundamental to our Christian life, because we follow a God who serves. Anybody can be great, because anybody can serve. You do not need a college degree to serve. You need only a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love.

Jesus' mission on earth was to serve and to save us. He did this with great sacrifice. He left heaven and became a human being on earth. Paul tells us He "made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men" (Phil. 2:7).

The word translated "servant" is doulos ("slave"). A slave is owned by the master and is absolutely subject to the master's will; the slave has no personal rights. Even so, Jesus experienced the lowest level of humanity--and went even lower. He died on the cross as criminals do. He suffered and died to pay for the sins of the world--yours and mine.

What a great example! It shows us that His disciples should be humble, meek, denying self, and giving themselves in service. "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (verse 5).

To serve means to give assistance or advantage to another. Servants are persons devoted to a cause. They are not actors or superstars. without question or doubt they wait to hear commands from their masters. It's not a popular occupation; it has no prestige. We would rather be served than serve.

Jesus was the true servant. "For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). Isaiah described Him as a suffering servant: "Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth" (Isa. 42:1). But the Scriptures also foretold that this servant would be exalted and extolled and be very high (Isa. 52:13) because of His sacrificial life and service.

The second key word is "transformed." This means to change the condition, nature, or function of an object. To transform also means to change the form or outward appearance, or to change the personality or character of an individual. I do not mean the superficial change that so many people practice. Nowadays every advertisement shows us that if we use this or that product we can be different in looks and in our personality.

But what is important is the transformation of character that prepares us for heaven. The question is: Can you transform yourself from being unfaithful to being faithful? Can you leave a sinful life to become pure? Can you cure spiritual sickness? Can your habits and attitudes be transformed to better ones? These are questions that we need to answer.

John the beloved disciple gives us an example of a life transformed while in the company of Jesus. He and his brother James were called "the sons of thunder" because of their bad temper and troublemaking. They wanted Jesus to command fire to come down from heaven and consume the Samaritans because the Samaritans did not wish Jesus to stay in their village.

Despite this attitude of John and James, Jesus wanted to bless the Samaritans. His mission was to save the world and to serve His creatures. "For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them" (Luke 9:56).

Jesus transformed the life and character of John. John's spirituality grew as he spent more time with Jesus. He became the sweetest, the most loving disciple of all the twelve. He wrote five books of the Bible, and their key word is "love." In his Gospel we find the golden verse--John 3:16. John became the apostle of love.

Ellen White notes, "For three years and a half the disciples were under the instruction of the greatest Teacher the world has ever known. By personal contact and association, Christ trained them for His service. Day by day they walked and talked with Him, hearing His words of cheer to the weary and heavy-laden and seeing the manifestation of His power in behalf of the sick and the afflicted. . . . They saw Him in every phase of life" (The Acts of the Apostles, pp. 17, 18).

John the Beloved was transformed because he walked and talked with Jesus every day. He heard and saw Jesus in every phase of His life and submitted to His will.

Therefore, for us to be transformed, the number one key is to walk and talk with Jesus. All of us are like John. Our character is not perfect, but we can be transformed if we constantly walk and talk with Jesus.

Key number two to be transformed is to do what Jesus did. Through His example of service we can be transformed. No one else can do it for us. Not the psychologist or psychiatrist; not counselors, teachers, professors; not even education. Education cannot change society. It is only by following what Jesus did that we can be transformed.

Key number three to be transformed is to completely surrender to Jesus. When we want to change the voltage of the electric current in our house, we use a transformer, don't we? Likewise we need a transformer in our lives. We cannot do it, but Jesus can. He left us the Holy Spirit as a comforter, teacher, and guide to transform our lives if we choose to surrender ourselves completely to Jesus.

An old man owned a clock that was not functioning well. Sometimes the clock went faster; sometimes it went slower. One day he removed the two hands of the clock, wrapped them up, and took them to the clockmaker. The clockmaker asked what the problem was. The old man said, "My clock does not function properly, so please fix it!" "Where is the clock?" asked the clockmaker. "I did not bring it here, because the problem is not with the clock, but with these hands," replied the old man. "Well, I cannot fix your clock if you do not bring the whole thing here," said the clockmaker. "No, sir," the old man said, "the problem is with these hands, not with the clock." And again the clockmaker said, "Absolutely I cannot fix your clock unless you bring the whole thing here." Finally the old man said, "H'mmm . . . I know, you ask me to bring the clock here because you are going to charge me more, right?"

If we want to change or transform our lives, we must surrender everything--heart, mind, body, and soul. We need to surrender our pride and selfishness, our self-sufficiency. These traits prevent us from being transformed.

Paul tells us, "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Cor. 3:18).

As we contemplate the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, we will be transformed. Let us give Jesus the privilege of transforming and changing our lives. It is my prayer that you and I will be transformed through His life of service.