September 17, 2015 (Thursday)
Jim Henson was born on my 5th birthday. He lived only 53 years, but he made quite a name for himself. He coined the phrase, “muppet,” and built an industry on it. His very first muppet was a frog named, “Kermit.” Jim made him out of an old faded green jacket that his mother had discarded. He made the eyes out of a ping pong ball cut in half. Kermit became very popular over the years and helped to make Jim Henson a very wealthy man. The original Kermit is now in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.
That’s quite a change. Transformed from an old coat that had been thrown away to arguably the world’s most famous frog. Truly a story of “trash to treasure.”
Kermit’s transformation makes me think of John Anderson’s song, “I’m just an old clump o’ coal, but I’m gonna be a diamond some day.”
And the whole scenario reminds me of 2 Corinthians 5:17, “.. if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (KJV).
When Jimmy Carter was president, he discussed his being a Christian and said he had been “born again.” Time magazine put the phrase in giant letters on their cover. The whole world had a brief conversation about it. “What on earth is he talking about?” millions asked.
Isn’t it strange that millions of people in the United States were members of Christian churches and did not know that Jesus–the object of their faith–said, “You must be born again (John 3:7)?”
The big words in theology are “regeneration” and “conversion.” Both words describe a great change that takes place within a person when he/she accepts Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. An old song by Benton Overstreet and lyrics by William Blackstone, very popular years ago, unwittingly describes what happens to a person’s daily life when he decides to follow Jesus: “There’ll be a change in the weather, a change in the sea, and from now on there’ll be a change in me. My walk will be diff’rent, my talk and my name. Nothin’ about me’s gonna be the same..”
When a person receives Jesus into his/her heart, a divine transformation takes place. If that has not happened to you, it can happen right now. “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved!” (Acts 16:31).