Last week I was reading through the Yahoo news clips on my laptop and I came across several interesting articles. The first article I read was about Kim Kardashian and her continuous need to post pictures of herself in her bikini. I believe it said something to the effect of six days, six pictures, six different bikinis. Who cares?
Before I continue on, let me post my disclaimer: I looked at each picture, of each day, of each bikini. Let us crack on (British term for continue).
A couple of days later I read an article about Miley Cyrus, Ann Hathaway, Jessica Biel and the girl from Twilight, Kristin Stewart. Not even the Olympics could escape the seedy side of news reporting. Many people wanted to know about the woman on the arm of Michael Phelps? Just yesterday I read an article about a young girl,14, who had plastic surgery to combat the bullying she was experiencing at school. Add to this the constant headlines concerning Lady Gaga, Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey and her twins, how can today's society not be enamoured with the celebrity lifestyle and its outward appearance? What ever happened to inward qualities being a part of what defines a person?
On any given day I can open the paper and read the headlines that speak of what some celebrity is doing, pictures of them on beaches, shopping, without makeup, working out, their beauty or style sense. They can also be noticed by the number of hangers on, groupies and paparazzi circling them like vultures to a carcass in the desert.
Jesus, if I can use today's vernacular, had groupies and hangers on. One could say those days were the infancy of the modern day paparazzi. Not too much of a stretch for the mind? Not mine at least. In Isaiah 53:2 (last half of the verse) it is said of Jesus, "he had no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him." Breaking down this verse, it says there was nothing outwardly about Jesus that would cause people to follow him, much less notice him. Would he be a candidate for GQ magazine? Men's Health? Probably not. Would we read in the USA Today about some outlandish stunt he pulled? No. If he were to walk about in the world today would anyone know who he was? Still no. Are the so called celebrities of today in need of such attention? If so, then why?
Beyond the outward materialistic possessions, these people offer nothing to the world. Their flaunt themselves and a vain identity to those around them, who will tire of them in a few years if not sooner. The shock and aw will wear off. They have their reward. Let me quote Solomon from Ecclesiastes 1:8, "All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing."
Question: Why could we not see the beauty of Jesus? The bible says he had the glory of God, was the fullness of the godhead bodily, was the image of God, spoke with the authority of God, the Son of God and filled with the Spirit of God. Answer: Our sin nature.
The manifestation of the beauty of Jesus came from within. His was the opposite of Solomon's denotation of humankind. Jesus did not come to satisfy the lust of the eyes, but to fulfill the longing of the spirit to once again be allowed to commune with God. He did not speak the words that people wanted to hear. The words of Jesus were not soft and tempered. His words pricked the hearts so man could see its need for repentance from sin.
No comments:
Post a Comment