Photo by Lucie Dawson on unsplash
A devotion by Steve Long.
Have you ever tried to pick a paint color? You go to the store where paint is sold and pick up a swatch of a color that looks great! When you get it home, perhaps it doesn’t look so great.
What is the difference? Usually, the difference has to do with light. All color is a reflection of light. All the other light frequencies will be absorbed except the color which is reflected. That’s the color you see whether red, yellow, blue, purple or taupe.
The strength and quality of the light will have a bearing upon the appearance of the color you choose.
It is the light which makes manifest.
Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God. (1 Corinthians 4:5)
But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. (Ephesians 5:13)
The light, as spoken of in these bible passages, represents truth. Truth is not only something you possess or something you know, it is something you do. If we come to the truth (light) our true color will be exposed. Evildoers don’t want that so they run from the light of God and his word. Truth doers receive the revelation which the light brings. If evil is present, truth doers want to know it so they can repent of it.
When Jesus returns, he will shine the bright light of his righteousness upon all of the Christian’s deeds. He will throw out all of the trash[i] (thank you Jesus) and reward the good deeds of the true believer.
It is possible for Christians to allow God’s Spirit to shine his word upon us now in order to make our deeds apparent before God so that we might be brought to repentance – before we stand before the Lord.
Hundreds of years ago, I guess most containers were made of clay pottery. Some pots were of excellent consistency without flaw. Of course the potter would get a much better price for those kinds of vessels.
For a vessel with a crack, I heard that some potters or sellers would attempt to fill the crack with wax. They could usually do a sufficient job of concealing the cracks this way.
The buyers soon got wise to this and learned that if they held such a vessel up to the sun, the line of wax would be exposed. After spotting the wax in the jar or pot, a buyer might refuse it for its lack of integrity.
Integrity is what God is asking for in us. He asks us to be real, genuine – living in simplicity. (See 1 Corinthians 1.12). If it is what it is – and it is, then it also ain't what it ain't. Let's not try to be what we ain't and let's not say it ain't if it is. If we have flaws, we should admit them, particularly to God who knows all things. [ii]
The Lord God asks that we function without pretense or false intentions; that we conduct ourselves with pure motives in our service to him. For, “all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light.”
[i] 1 Corinthians 3.13-15
[iI] 1 John 3.20
Have you ever tried to pick a paint color? You go to the store where paint is sold and pick up a swatch of a color that looks great! When you get it home, perhaps it doesn’t look so great.
What is the difference? Usually, the difference has to do with light. All color is a reflection of light. All the other light frequencies will be absorbed except the color which is reflected. That’s the color you see whether red, yellow, blue, purple or taupe.
The strength and quality of the light will have a bearing upon the appearance of the color you choose.
It is the light which makes manifest.
But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. (John 3:21)
Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God. (1 Corinthians 4:5)
But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. (Ephesians 5:13)
The light, as spoken of in these bible passages, represents truth. Truth is not only something you possess or something you know, it is something you do. If we come to the truth (light) our true color will be exposed. Evildoers don’t want that so they run from the light of God and his word. Truth doers receive the revelation which the light brings. If evil is present, truth doers want to know it so they can repent of it.
When Jesus returns, he will shine the bright light of his righteousness upon all of the Christian’s deeds. He will throw out all of the trash[i] (thank you Jesus) and reward the good deeds of the true believer.
It is possible for Christians to allow God’s Spirit to shine his word upon us now in order to make our deeds apparent before God so that we might be brought to repentance – before we stand before the Lord.
Hundreds of years ago, I guess most containers were made of clay pottery. Some pots were of excellent consistency without flaw. Of course the potter would get a much better price for those kinds of vessels.
For a vessel with a crack, I heard that some potters or sellers would attempt to fill the crack with wax. They could usually do a sufficient job of concealing the cracks this way.
The buyers soon got wise to this and learned that if they held such a vessel up to the sun, the line of wax would be exposed. After spotting the wax in the jar or pot, a buyer might refuse it for its lack of integrity.
Integrity is what God is asking for in us. He asks us to be real, genuine – living in simplicity. (See 1 Corinthians 1.12). If it is what it is – and it is, then it also ain't what it ain't. Let's not try to be what we ain't and let's not say it ain't if it is. If we have flaws, we should admit them, particularly to God who knows all things. [ii]
The Lord God asks that we function without pretense or false intentions; that we conduct ourselves with pure motives in our service to him. For, “all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light.”
[i] 1 Corinthians 3.13-15
[iI] 1 John 3.20
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