Day 27 of 28
Counting the Cost (Revisited)
Transformation Is Painful
Scripture Readings
Today's Reading
Read Romans 8:17-18: "And if children, then heirs — heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us."
Then read 1 Peter 4:12-13: "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed."
Reflection
Lewis returns to the theme of counting the cost, this time with the full weight of Book IV behind him. The transformation God is working is not cosmetic. It is not a renovation of the surface. It is a metamorphosis — the complete remaking of a creature from one kind of thing into another.
"It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad."
This image captures something the house metaphor (from Day 14) did not: the urgency. An egg that does not hatch does not simply remain an egg — it rots. There is no standing still in the spiritual life. You are either being transformed or you are decaying. The comfortable middle ground of "decent but unchanged" is an illusion.
Lewis draws the threads of the entire book together with a statement that echoes Jesus's most paradoxical teaching.
"Give up yourself, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it. Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favourite wishes every day and death of your whole body in the end: submit with every fibre of your being, and you will find eternal life."
Paul's logic in Romans 8 runs parallel: suffering with Christ is the path to being glorified with Christ. The two are inseparable. You cannot have the resurrection without the cross. But the glory that awaits is so immense that the present suffering is "not worth comparing" to it.
Peter makes the same case: do not be surprised by the fiery trial. It is not a sign that something has gone wrong. It is a sign that transformation is underway. The fire is not punitive — it is refining.
Going Deeper
Lewis's egg metaphor is a summons to courage. The egg cannot see the bird it will become. It only knows that the shell — everything familiar, everything protective — is being broken open. From inside the egg, hatching looks like destruction. From outside, it looks like birth.
Where are you being broken open right now? Can you trust that what feels like ending is actually beginning?
Key Quotes
“It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.”
“Give up yourself, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it. Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favourite wishes every day and death of your whole body in the end: submit with every fibre of your being, and you will find eternal life.”
Prayer Focus
Asking for the courage to embrace the painful transformation God is working in you, trusting that what lies ahead is resurrection, not annihilation
Meditation
Lewis says we must be 'hatched or go bad.' Where in your life have you been trying to remain an egg — comfortable but not truly alive?
Question for Discussion
Lewis insists there is no neutral ground — we are either being transformed or decaying. Do you think it is possible to simply 'maintain' your faith without growing, or does spiritual stagnation inevitably become spiritual regression? What evidence have you seen for either view in your own life?