Pinocchio

Sometimes I think we are much like the wooden puppet, Pinocchio, in our unbelieving state. Like him, we are puppets pulled by strings that the world, the flesh and the devil hold, They manage and manipulate each of us as they think best, and though we are trapped and imprisoned by their master over us, we are none the wiser for it.

But somehow, along the way we encounter Jesus, and in that moment there is just enough self-will or self-awareness in us to be able to say Yea or Nay. And when we say Yes to Jesus, He immediately cuts the strings of our previous existence and we are "born again." We are still wooden, by now we are no longer mastered and manipulated by the strings. Even though that is the truth of our condition, we often default to the behavior and feelings and life we knew when we belonged to the strings.



But the good news is the Spirit of God is now at work inside us and brings revelation and realization. And with each revelation and realization we truly receive comes the power to change for the better, because the truth remains the strings no longer control us. We are invited by His great love for us to make each change. And with each change we become less wooden and more human—truly human—until that great day when we stand before the Lord and behold Him face to face. Then we are changed in a moment, becoming truly like Him--and so, more truly human than we ever were, and as we were always intended to be.

-Sally Klein O'Connor