Our destiny has far less to do with what we do than it does with who we become. ‘For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son’ (Romans 8:29 NIV). And it takes many different experiences to bring that to pass. Hence Paul writes: ‘Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine…like stars in the sky’ (Philippians 2:14-15 NIV). Paul likens us to shining stars, and the word shine means to reflect. The scientific term is albedo. It’s a measurement of how much sunlight a celestial body reflects. The planet Venus, for example, has the highest albedo at close to 0.7. In other words, nearly seventy per cent of the light that hits Venus is reflected. On the other hand, the moon has an albedo point of only 0.07. Only seven per cent of sunlight is reflected, yet it lights our way on cloudless nights. In a similar sense, each of us has a spiritual albedo. The goal? One hundred per cent reflectivity. ‘We all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.’ You cannot produce light; you can only reflect it. To be ‘conformed to his image’ means we think like, talk like, feel like, and act like Him. It’s the character of Christ being formed in you until you reflect His love, His power, His patience, and His joy.
