"Pictures of the Insides"

“Pictures of the Insides”

In 1962 my grandfather was hospitalized for the first time in his 77 years. My brother and I went to visit and he reviewed his day with us. Included in his regimen was a trip to the x-ray department where (as he put it), “They took pictures of my insides.” (This was rather primitive as a diagnostic tool when compared to today’s PET scans, CAT scans and MRI’s.) We then joked with him some about knowing more of what he looked like internally than externally. But he recovered well and lived seven more years until God took him Home in December 1969.

I greatly admitted this gentleman who was an important influence on my life (see more about this in my posting “Quiet Godliness”) and often remember the things he said and did which made me think and sometimes chuckle a bit. I then recalled the “Superman” comics and TV series in which the hero had x-ray vision to see through walls and other barriers in his “fight for truth, justice and the American way”. From here my mind wandered to God’s words to His priest Samuel: “(People look) at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7). This might be described as “Divine x-ray vision” and is one of the many ways God distinguishes Himself from us humans.

A couple of old sayings show our lack of ability to see beyond the surface in one another: “Beauty is only skin deep” (1613) and “You can’t judge a book by its cover” (1850). People can see only what we allow them to about us. We may hide who we really are from those around us but “Nothing is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:13).

Around 400 BC Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” It’s thought he meant that without knowing or understanding ourselves our life has no value. But God valued each of us enough to “…(give) his one and only Son….” (John 3:16). And He calls on us to look at ourselves on the inside to conform to His purposes (“Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.”—Lamentations 3:40) before questioning another’s actions or motives (Matthew 7:5) or participating in the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:28).

What we are on the inside will likely manifest itself outwardly at some point (“…the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.”—Matthew 12:34, NASB). I pray the pictures of my insides will photograph well when seen on the outside.

Grace and Blessings!

Jim McMillan