IMAGE RETENTION

Have you ever experienced "image retention" on your TV? This will happen when an image is continuously displayed for a long time. Image retention, in most cases, is temporary and fixable. As you are reading this you may be asking, "What does this have to do with the hog-law in Arkansas concerning spiritual matters?"

Did you know that Moses experienced something like "image retention"? "And it came about, when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the testimony were in Moses’ hand as he was coming down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him" (Exodus 34:29, NASB). Although it's not on record in the Bible of this actually being said, this may very well have been the first time in history that the word "alien" was spoken - implying from another world.

Moses had been in the presence of the Lord for 40 days and 40 nights. The Bible says that, "...he was not aware that his face was radiant..." (NIV). Notice the affect that it had on Aaron and the leaders of Israel. In Harris vernacular - "It scared the living be-jabbers out of them!" Evidently they ran when they saw Moses. It says Moses had to call out to them for them to recognize him and come back. The truth to be learned here is that we may not be aware of the change in us when we spend more time in the presence of the Lord, but those who know us will notice. We may not have the same affect on our friends and family as Moses did, but if they haven't been in the presence of the Lord like we have, it may scare them, or at least make them very uncomfortable.

Why would we have that affect on people? It is not possible to spend more and more time with Jesus and not be changed. Those changes will always be for the better. We will be more in love with him, walk in greater obedience to his commandments, and be more aware of what we say and do, lest we bring reproach upon his holy name. The initial reaction of those who are carnal Christians, or are not walking as close to the Lord as they should be, may well make them feel uncomfortable, maybe even feel guilty around you, because they see the difference between how you live in comparison to how they live. Those who don't know the Lord at all will likely be repelled by the changes in your life because they will fill condemned by their ungodliness. Their lives will stand in stark contrast to the life of Christ revealed in you.

There are those "Christians" who feel the need to point out their need for a savior in a condemning way. But if we have truly been in the presence of the Lord then we will imitate him. This is what follows possibly the most well known verse in the Bible, John 3:16. Verse 17 says, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” Let us not be accused of looking down our spiritual noses as the Pharisees were want to do, but let us be clothed with the humility of Christ. "Jesus’ condemnation of self-righteousness was especially harsh in His treatment of the Jewish leadership of the time. Six times in Matthew 23, Jesus condemns the scribes and Pharisees for rigidly adhering to their legalistic traditions in order to make themselves look better to others. (gotquestions.org)

Image retention is bad for the TV but it's what the child of God should desire and seek for. But there is something that we should desire more than that. Just like image retention is usually temporary, so was the radiance of Moses face. In 2 Corinthians 3:7: “For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away.” It says that after Moses talked to the Israelite's he would cover his face with a veil until he went into the tent of meeting. After coming out of the tent of meeting, having been in the presence of God, his face would be radiant again. So he would talk to them with his face uncovered. Once he was finished speaking with them he would cover his face again so they could not see the radiance fading.

As I mentioned above, there is something much better than resembling Christ temporarily. The world, the flesh, and Satan will immediately go to work to remove that resemblance. Of that you can be sure. If we are going to retain the image of Christ, we, like Moses, have to continually, as David said, "...enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise...". The latter part of that verses indicates when - daily. Far too often, the image of the Lord in us resembles that of a roller coaster. Some days we are on the way to the top. Life is serene and we are enjoying the view. Life is beautiful. Then there are those days when we are rapidly descending, our stomachs are in our throats, and a guttural scream comes out of our mouth as we contemplate the fear of dying. I know I'm being overly dramatic, but too much of my walk with God in life has been like that. Maybe you identify with this as well. And need I say that living life this way is not glorifying and honoring Christ our king to the watching world.

There's got to be a better way. There's something that will damage a TV screen permanently. It's called "burn-in." That's something you certainly don't want on your TV screen, but it is something that we should desire as child of God. I want the image of Christ "burned-in" to me. What I want is a consistent life in Christ, not walking in victory one day and defeat the next. And may I say the obvious - the world desperately needs to see Christ in us. He's their only hope in a world that's gone crazy.

Our perfect example of a life like that is the Lord himself. At the height of his ministry it was almost impossible to get away from the crowds. The demands on his time were unrelenting, and yet he did what he had to do to be alone with his Father. Even though he was fully God, he was also fully man. And in his humanity he couldn't handle the constant demands placed upon him without spending time with his Father, where his Father could strengthen him.

From time to time I hear of famous people who bemoan the fact that they can't go anywhere without being noticed. Here's a quote from one recently, none other than LeBron James: “I don’t want to say it ever becomes too much, but there are times when I wish I could do normal things,” LeBron said. “I wish I could go to Target sometimes and walk into Starbucks and have my name on the cup just like regular people.” (clutchpoints.com) Your response may be like mine - waah, waah, waah. Give me a Pentecostal break! He's richer than 99.9% of the world. What a burden to bear. Poor baby.

The sad truth is, there are times we sound just like that to Jesus. We've got a beautiful home(s) and the best car(s) that we have to pay for. We've got to prepare for the future so we can retire early and so we work as much overtime as we can. Our children are involved in so many things that it takes both parents to get them to all their activities. That's not even taking into account the rising cost of inflation and the need to spend quality time with our spouse so our marriage stays intact. It's no wonder that by the time Sunday comes we are, many times, too tired to go to church, or in the summer we need some "me-time" on the golf course or at the lake. The fact is that we, as followers of Christ, at least here in America, have taken on the values of the world. The world's motto is "He who dies with the most toys wins." I like an acronym used by Dr. Derwin Gray (former NFL player) when he was speaking of how busy we are: BUSY: BEING - UNDER - SATAN'S - YOKE.

If this is you and me, how do you think we will feel, and how do you think he will respond, when we stand before the Lord and tell him we're sorry that we didn't spend more time seeking his face? Paul gives us the answer as to how we can have his image "burned-in" to us in 2 Cor. 3:18, (AMPC), "And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the Word of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; [for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit.

Did you catch that? Paul declares that we can live with an unveiled face! How does that happen? By staying in His Word and spending time in His presence. By doing so we are constantly being transfigured into His very own image, and rather than living and up-and-down life, we can go from one degree of glory to another by His Spirit that dwells within us.

If we are on the spiritual roller coaster of life we need to repent and ask God to change us. "Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it" (James 4:17, NLT).