“He trusted God, so let God rescue Him now if He wants Him! For He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” (Matthew 27:43 NLT)
Jesus may well be the only human being who has ever lived who is genuinely and without reservation exactly who He claimed to be. Social media compounds our problem when it comes to revealing who we really are. We use carefully photo-shopped photos and exaggerated words to describe, not who we are, but who we’d like others to believe we are.
André Malraux wrote: “Man is not what he thinks he is, he is what he hides.” What are you hiding? Who are you behind the mask of the person you’re pretending to be? Are you like me? Afraid if I let someone in, they might not like what they see? We carefully craft the person we want to “sell” to our friends and even our family, but especially those who know us from church.
Isn’t it ironic that we say we want nothing more than to be like Jesus but hide our “dark” past or secret sins for fear if someone really knew us, they wouldn’t like us or accept us. There are at least two problems with that thinking. First, if someone only likes the “false” version of us, is that really better than having them reject us if they know the “real” us?
And, secondly, if we’re harboring secret sin how will we ever work through our fear, shame, regret, and unforgiveness until we come clean and get help with whatever it is? In either case, our witness and effectiveness for the Lord is crippled at best or prevented at worst. It seems odd that the only perfect Person to ever walk the earth is first to open His loving arms to us when we finally come home.
Do you think the “prodigal son” was proud of his behavior in the far country where he went to hide? He had the world by the tail until the money ran out, then he got a full picture of who he really was – not the playboy ready to party, but the fearful, lonely, and ashamed boy who had no place to go and no way to get there.
Who are you in this season of your life? Still running wild in a lifestyle you can’t sustain? At night when you can’t sleep are you quickly becoming the person you promised yourself you’d never be? Are you still living the “front” of the perfect Christian, but it’s been months since you’ve opened the Bible, and you can’t remember the last time you prayed more than a few words? Do you fear you’ve gone too far, or worse, maybe you don’t even care anymore?
Maybe you’re thinking the life you’re living now is the “real” you, “footloose and fancy free,” not stopping long enough to realize where you’re heading isn’t leading to freedom, but bondage. Sin doesn’t liberate, it captivates, not just for this life, but the next as well. Satan only knows how to lie. Think about that for a minute.
He paints a picture in your mind where you’re the “star,” the “hero(ine),” the “winner,” and for a while it feels really good. You love your new image, your new “friends,” you’re finally where you dreamed of being, yet, when you’re home, viewing yourself in the mirror, with no one around but your quickly fading memories, are you listening? Can you hear that still, small voice saying: “I love you, stop running! Come home to Me!”
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 