There’s a scene in the movie “National Treasure” where three characters who are all looking for treasure view a map. With it are spectacles with different coloured filters. Each filter reveals a different clue on the map (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqVxaRiekac).
Like those spectacles, we reveal different parts of ourselves in different filters…in different lights. How do you define yourself? Is it based on your role like “student” or “only child”? Is it linked to your family’s lineage? Or your skills and achievements, such as “athletic,” “musical,” or “good at math”? Is it linked to your clothes and style? When you look through each filter, do you see a different part of you?
Who are you really? Is there someone who knows you fully? Do you really know yourself?
In 1 Corinthians, the Apostle Paul uses an image of a mirror to illustrate how we know God. In the first century, mirrors were often made of bronze so the reflection wasn’t really clear (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible). But Paul says, “We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!” (1 Corinthians 13:12 MSG)
We can trust Jesus’ voice, in fact it’s the only one we can trust because his view of us is complete. Nothing (the good, the bad or the ugly) is hidden from him. So when he defines us, we can trust it is truth.
(By the way, if you have the “Clear” poster, see if you can find some of the words Jesus uses to describe those who trust in him.)
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