Image is nothing, thirst is everything.
Do you remember when Sprite coined the phrase, “Image is nothing, thirst is everything”? At the time I agreed with the first part but after a while I realized they are wrong on both accounts. How we think others view us is how we view ourselves and how we view ourselves is how we view other people.
Once upon a time there were twelve spies, heads of their respective families, men of renown. God had given His people His covenant of freedom, fed them, watered them, led them through a desolate wilderness and forgave all their sins, iniquities and transgressions. It was time, after two long years, to take hold of their inheritance, the Land of Promise. Moses sent these men forth to spy out the land and bring back a report of its goodness, but that is not what they did. Instead they spied out the land with eyes of flesh and exclaimed, “Behold! We appeared as grasshoppers in their eyes and so we are!” Out of their hard hearts sprang wicked words that determined their fate. None the less there were two that seen with eyes of spirit; their report was quite the opposite but the words of death were the ones that prevailed crushing the hearts of their fellow believers leading them to an untimely death.
How we see ourselves has a profound effect on the people around us. We need to see ourselves through God’s eyes and our attitude must conform to that of our Father. So how does God see us? We often view ourselves through human eyes. God sees us for who we are; people see us for who we were. Who we were is a part of who we are but who we were is no longer who we are. The only thing that matters who we are. How we perceive ourselves determines who we will be. This, in turn, influences the future for all mankind like the ripples on the water.
Who are you? What is your image? If you don’t like your image, what are you doing to change it? What you do to change starts on the outside; that is the most volatile layer. And what you do to change starts on the inside; that is the core layer. From thus commences the strategy of divide and conquer. To start, you must figure out who you want to be. Who you want to be should be who you are deep down, the stone that God created you to be. And from there you need to start exhibiting that on the outside, not only for your sake but those around you because they can only see who you are on the outside. It is hard to change who you are and how you express yourself because people expect you to stay the same. Sometimes you need to change your environment and change your friends. Bad company corrupts good character. Who you spend time with shapes who you are. Evil feeds evil and good feeds good. Evil will destroy you but good will restore you.
What is evil? Evil is taking something or someone created for a purpose and destroying it making it useless. Evil stems from a wicked heart and pollutes others firstly with words. Evil will gossip tearing other people down stealing their value giving the gossiper a false sense of greater worth. Evil will grumble against God in attempt to satisfy one’s own lustful desires. Evil concentrates on the things that appear as faults. Evil is never satisfied, it always wants more! Evil will always find something to complain about. Evil poisons the minds of others and in the end evil murders others, evil murders one’s own self.
What is good? Good is something or someone functioning according to the purpose it was created for. Good stems from a righteous heart and manifests firstly as deeds. Good will build people up reminding them of their value. Good blesses God, even in the most adverse circumstances. Good concentrates on the things that glorify God. Good is never thankful enough, it always wants to do more. Good will always find something to praise God about. Good strengthens the hearts of others and in the end good will bring life and blessing to others and to one’s own soul.
Weigh the words and life of those closest to you. If what they talk about and do is evil, separate yourself and run for your life else they will kill you and you will die! Yes, there is a need and a time to minister to such people but not at the expense of you. Remember, you cannot soften someone’s heart; the Spirit of God cannot even soften someone’s heart. Above all things you must guard your own heart for out of it flows the issues of life. If the living water inside you becomes poisoned, it will poison all those around just as the wicked spies poisoned the hearts of their fellow believers. Recall the wisdom of our Savior, “The eye is the light of the body, if the eye is one with me the body will be filled with light but if the eye is evil the body will be filled with darkness and if light is only darkness, that darkness will be great.” (Matt 6:22 – 23) Our eye beholds everything we see and everything we think about.
If you want an idea about someone’s heart, ask them about the weather. If you want to know what is in your own heart, pay attention to what you say about the weather. Solomon says, “As in water face shows face, so a person’s heart reveals the person.” (Prov 27:19) How you dress, how you act, and what you say is an outward reflection of how you see yourself and how we see yourself greatly influences how you feel, how you think and how you live; your image is everything. If you want to know what you heart says about you, pay attention to what you say about other people. When you talk about the faults of others, more often than not you are revealing a tree that has grown in your own life that needs to be cut down with the roots torn out. Always remember, God has created you for a purpose. If you are not functioning according to that purpose, evil has befallen you. Jesus’ arm is not too short to save. You need to remove the cataracts from the eyes of your spirit and see again and fill your body with light. Your worth cannot be measured.
tommarroww 