Into the Fire

Remember the term? Snapshots. Brief but telling pictures come to mind.

Black pages and white lick-to-stick corners for framing.

How about applying snapshots to the words people say? Glimpses of who they are at any given time. From infant gurgles to teen angst and on through the years, what do the words tell others about them?

Sometimes the snapshot words paint a picture which will dissipate as the years are added on. And thank the Lord for that, I say. We tend to be so cocky in our opinions as young adults, and here I'm applying that term on through the 30s. Most people I know, myself included, don't really start getting life until the 40s. We're all wrapped up in our versions of adulthood, relationships with others including husbands/wives, children, parents, friends, and, for believers, God. And here's where we just might need to accelerate from plain attention to Jesus to real understanding of who our Savior is as we gain some years and hopefully His wisdom.

He's patient as we set up standards we deem as biblical and therefore unflinching. We demand those standards of ourselves and others, and look out if someone in or outside the family dares to deviate from our expectations. We either use grace as an enabler for special individuals or we deny it to anyone who doesn't tow the line of our rigid definitions. I know this because I've been there as a young (not in age) Christian. We're full of enthusiasm, but we lack true mercy.

Someday, if our hearts are willing to seek the God of all Creation, we set aside our self-imposed, multi-interpreted standards and judgments, and we listen to the Spirit of Truth who exposes our self-absorbed Christianity for what it is and gently but firmly asks us if we think He's capable of doing the judging. If we're not cowed or at least humbled by that revelation, we definitely should be.

Do we realize that Jesus implied a Syrian Phoenician woman was a dog? Culturally speaking, that's what she was considered. Her reply pleased Jesus because she inherently understood two things about herself and Him. She was unworthy of Him, but yet she sensed He valued her. That's the gospel in a nutshell. A beautiful picture of truth which begins in a harsh way.

So. Once again we squabble over our holier-than-thou attitudes concerning Christian Fiction of all things. We impose our strident values which have nothing to do with the heart of God and don't allow for the revelation of sin and repentance in a novel form. We fail to see the prideful accusations and conclusions, the huge "planks" in our eyes, as we mount frontal attacks on a speck of sawdust.

Is that the snapshot we want others to picture when they think of us? 

{I have no knowledge of the captivating woman and horse in this snapshot. It was a public domain photograph listed under snapshots. Lovely, isn't it? Not a bad way to be remembered . . . }

Jesus, forgive us. God, thank you for loving us all. In spite of us. We are desperate for you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.