Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. II Corinthians 5:17

Appearances

             It would only happen to me.  It was canning season and Meijer had 5 lb. bags of sugar on sale so, knowing I'd need it for making my year's worth of jams, jellies, and canning syrup in which to preserve pears, I loaded a dozen bags of on-sale sugar into my cart.  Unloading them at the checkout, I happened to notice the guy in line in front of me.  He looked familiar.  My dentist.  And here, coming down the conveyor belt toward him were my twelve bags of sugar!  He looked at me.  I looked at him.  I laughed nervously and tried to explain.  He smiled and said, "Uh-huh," like he believed me, but I was pretty sure he didn't.  Sometimes, appearances can be deceiving.

            No one knew that better than God's chosen people, the Israelites.  During their wilderness wanderings they traveled when the Moabite king, Balak, mistook them for someone else.  "Look, a vast horde of people has arrived from Egypt," he wrote to Balaam, pleading with the prophet to come curse this terrifying horde for him (Numbers 22: 5b NLT).  Because the Israelites had come out of Egypt, Balak and his people mistook them for Egyptians.  An easy enough mistake.  Appearances can be deceiving.

            If you've made the decision to follow Jesus, from what "land", what past have you come out?  As a result, who do people mistakenly believe you to be?  Appearances can be deceiving.

            But most importantly, who do you believe yourself to be?  The Israelites weren't too sure of their new identity as freed men and women.  They were used to being slaves, used to relying on the Egyptians to provide for them, to determine their identities for them, and to plan the course of their days.  As a result, the Israelites were always looking back to Egypt.  "[A]nd they began to speak against God and Moses.  'Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die here in the wilderness?' they complained.  'There is nothing to eat here and nothing to drink.  And we hate this horrible manna!' " (Numbers 21: 5).  Though they were free, they were still in bondage to their past.  Perhaps their own lack of clarity about their new identity was part of the reason the Moabites mistook them to be something they weren't.  How about you?  As a result of where you've come from, who do you mistakenly believe yourself to be?  When it comes to appearances, we can even deceive ourselves.  However. . .

"Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin.  A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever.  So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free" (John 8:36).

            Whether we're having an awkward moment at the grocery store or are feeling uncomfortable or unworthy while trying to accomplish something much more important, we can't let the appearance of where and what we've been affect the way we feel about the present.  Our identity is now in Christ, and if He has set us free, we need to take Him at His word and trust that we are truly free.

Daye Phillippo

May 2013