Visualize This

C'mon, admit it. If you've stared into a creche or been to Sunday school more than once in your life, you've tried to imagine what it was like to have lived in Bible times. Maybe you've wondered if you would have had enough courage to step out there and fight Goliath. Maybe you've been curious what fish and barley bread taste like fresh out of a knapsack and split five thousand+ ways. I think visualizing is important. I think it's important to consider what your reaction might have been if you'd been there. I think it helps us evaluate our understanding of the events and evaluate our own spiritual character.

Take, for instance, two of the groups frequently mentioned in the Gospels -- Pharisees and disciples. Have you ever asked yourself which group you might have been in? Let me just refresh your memory. The Pharisees were fairly strict adherents to the Law of Moses, in addition to the traditions handed down through the years. They gave both equal value which, in essence, added to the Word of God, something God strictly prohibits. (Would you want some unauthorized source adding stuff to your autobiography?) The Pharisees were probably middle class, which would account for their level of influence with religious governing bodies as well as their influence over the people. Jesus called them out in Matthew 23, pronouncing woe upon them (never a good thing) and calling them hypocrites. Their biggest blunder, however, was rejecting Christ.

The disciples. I'm using a little "d" here because, though we usually think of the Twelve, there were many disciples, many followers of Christ. The Twelve were Jesus' constant companions, but so many others learned at His feet. They witnessed miracles and were sent out to tell others. There were women who supported Jesus financially and those who offered Jesus and the Twelve meals and lodging. All but one of the Twelve saw Jesus after His resurrection, and hundreds more after them. Two of the Twelve were known as "Sons of Thunder." Tell me they weren't guys no one wanted to mess with. Some disciples, like Matthew and Zaccheus were thieves, others were ill, outcast, adulterers, and liars. For all of their other failures and shortcomings in life -- or maybe because of their shortcomings and failures -- disciples recognized Jesus as their one and only Hope, the Son of God, Truth, the promised Messiah, and their Redeemer. Can you see yourself as someone like that?

I would have been a Pharisee. Originally. I lived that way for years. Only by God's grace have I become a disciple. Seeing myself through the lens of God's Word, I came to know that following procedures with an empty heart, a heart void of love for God and others was not what a true disciple was looked like. Seeing myself as not a disciple but a self-righteous Pharisee left me begging for mercy before the Throne of grace, and by God's grace and the work of His Holy Spirit, I have been changed from one informed of the truth to one being formed in Truth. I am no longer a rule follower, but a Ruler follower. I seek not simply what is right, but One who is righteous. And, praise God, He promises to complete that which He has begun. 

No matter your role today, no matter who you might have been, the transformative work of Jesus can give you a brand new identity for the future. Now that's something to visualize!