Assuming that a picture has not been altered using special techniques or a computer, check all of the following true statements.
• "A photograph doesn’t lie, what you see is what you get."
• "A snapshot is a gross distortion of reality"
• "What counts is 'seizing the moment' "
• "The moment can be deceptive"
Now let’s open an album and look at some pictures. Our first snapshot is of king David as he welcomes a beautiful Bathsheba into his private quarters for the first time. Look closely at his face. See the love and desire in his eyes. Notice the tender smile and don’t forget beautiful Bathsheba dressed in a flattering evening gown for her king. Is it really as good as king David makes it look? Can it be wrong when it feels and looks so right?
Flip some pages and we find another snapshot. A man alone in a garden at night. His face contorted in pain. His hands rigid and straining with intensity while from his sweat drenched clothes two great drops of sweat are frozen in mid-air as they fall to the ground. His mouth is open as though pleading to some invisible bystander. Is the garden of Gethsemane as terrible as it appears? Would it have been better if Jesus had chosen a different path?
Which snapshot faithfully captured the moment with all of its feelings and authenticity intact? Both did! In this regard, the photo doesn’t lie. But can a moment of time really tell the truth?
Snapshots deceive because they don’t tell the whole story. This picture of David ignores the guilt, murder, bitter tears, the death, and a family torn apart by the sword directly resulting from this one moment. Neither does Jesus’ agony in the garden reveal anything of the victorious Christ who destroyed man’s greatest enemy - death, or of the great crowd who could gather before God’s throne because there was a cross at the end of Gethsemane.
The moment is deceptive. All too easily "the now" can even make venom seem desirable. A snapshot can be a subtle and deadly lie persuading one to abandon righteousness. The feelings and appearances of the moment do not say anything about its actual goodness.
In actuality, any “picture” or even a feature “film” which fails to include the eternal consequences of our actions is in actuality merely a snapshot. Something more reliable than the transient moment is demanded to understand the truth about life.
Let’s set our hearts and minds on things above and not upon earthly things. For those who are in Christ have died and their lives are now hidden with Christ in God. Therefore they need to put to death whatever belongs to the flesh such as sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed while hungering for obedience, righteousness, mercy and love. How can one overcome these things? Help is as close as God's Word and truly being converted to serve Christ.
Read: Colossians 3:1-17; Galatians 5:16-25; John 15:10; Micah 6:8; Matthew 5:3-10
Barry Newton, Copyright © 1998
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