Monday, March 26, 2007

What Glasses Do You Look Through





I was playing with my camera. I took the same picture from the same spot 3 times. The first one is without a flash and in sepia tones. The second one is without a flash in regular tones. The third one is with the flash.

In looking at the above pictures... all so much alike, yet so different, I realized that it is a lot like life. I have heard it said that several people can see an accident happen and give their story of what happened, yet their stories all vary a bit. Are all but one of them wrong? No, they told what they perceived happened. Maybe on their side of the intersection they saw the object in the street that made the person swerve, where people on the other side did not, etc.

I look at the first picture and see old fashioned. Usually when someone takes a picture in sepia tones they are wanting the picture to appear old or from eras gone by. There was very little light, so most of the details are hidden. How many of us rest on what we have done in the past. We made a commitment to the Lord and were born again. We were excited for awhile, but we have not really fed ourselves regularly on the Word. We sit on the premises instead of standing on the promises. We look back and see only the highlights and forget where we came from. We are not looking on where we are now, or what we are to be about. I think of the parable of the talents. If the Lord called you home today, what have you or I done with what the Lord gave us?

The second picture is taken to set a mood. It blocks out the extra light and uses only the low light that was there. I think that many of us as Christians are represented here. We are reading our Bibles, going to church and even praying. Yet, there is not a lot of growth there. We are in a spiritual rut and do the same thing everyday. There are things that have slipped in our life that need to be gotten rid of and there are other things we need to be adding. We need to be more about the Master's business. We tend to see the faults in those around us, but don't look closely at ourselves. We use a low light to look at our own lives. We may even see some of the stuff, ask forgiveness and then walk on and keep doing it over and over.... fall, ask forgiveness, and walk on... A vicious cycle.

The third picture is in full light. Both the light in the room and a powerful flash. With the light, you can see all the dust, dirt, cobwebs, rust on the stove, gourds on top of the stove that should have been dealt with months ago, etc. When we open our lives to The Light, all the ugliness in our lives and around us is in full and plain view. We can see where we need to let our Lord work in and through us. We see things that need to disappear and go away. We see things we are not doing and should be about.

I know I have mentioned this here before, but I LOVE this illustration. The first picture is a picture of the Christian life. There is a defined outer circle and Christ is at the center.


This second picture is a picture of a Christian life in modern day America. The outer line is no longer clearly defined. It is a big smudge, a gray area of diluted convictions and situational ethics. Many people are trying to see how far in the gray area they can live and still be a Christian, when our goal should be to see what else we can get rid of, change or add that will get us closer to the center.


Psalm 139:23,24 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

2Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

John 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the Light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

2Corinthians 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Matthew 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Ephesians 1:3,4 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

2 comments:

Kelli said...

What a wonderful post, Marci! I really enjoyed it and the illustration is great!
Kelli

Tina Leigh said...

Marci that post will teach!! I'm glad you did the pictures b/c that really is a good analogy of life,us & how God works.