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Friday, July 10, 2020 - Devotional from Pastor John

July 10, 2020 by Rev. John Hartman

From the Pastor

I used to enjoy watching the tv show, “Home Improvement.” Tim Allen starred as Tim “The Tool-Man” Taylor, who also had his own tv show, “Tool Time.” In one episode, Tim’s wife, Jill, is going to be honored at a very elegant black tie affair banquet. It’s a big deal for Jill. And so, she gives Tim the task of delivering a lovely 8x10 glossy of herself to the photographer, – in order for it to be blown up to poster size for the banquet, and then to be put on an easel for everyone to see and admire.

If you remember the show, you know Tim always makes a big mess out of things. Somehow, he loses the beautiful 8x10 picture Jill had so carefully picked out for the event. So, now in a jam and with a deadline to meet, Tim gives the photographer the only other picture of Jill he has handy with him, -- which happens to be the picture on her driver’s license! Now, I don’t know about you, but the last thing most folks would want is a blown up to poster size picture of their driver’s license to be on full display. And when Jill gets to the banquet and they unveil this blotchy, badly lit poster of her, with no makeup, and a crinkled face, – she’s absolutely mortified. And Tim, as usual, is in big trouble!

I wonder if that is how God feels whenever we substitute our own “blotchy” images of Him for the real picture He has given to us in His Word. You see, God already has an image. The Bible says Jesus Christ is the “image of the invisible God” Colossians 1:15. “The radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being” Hebrews 1:3. Even Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father” John 14:9.

Friends, when we want to know what God is like, we only have to look to Jesus Christ. And as we read the gospels, we get a clear poster sized picture of who he is, and what he came to do. And, we better understand that his purpose was to serve as an atoning sacrifice for our sins on the cross and to repair the image of God in us. And when that happens, then the idols of our lives are destroyed, and we can know God as He really is and not just as we want Him to be. This is the image of Him He wants us to have. And, this is the image of Him we are called to bear. One who is never what we expect, but who is always more, much more, than we could ever ask for or imagine.