A couple of weeks ago a friend and I visited my favorite statue- the Christus. I’ve spent many hours at the foot of this statue over the years. I’ve shed tears of pain and tears of joy. I’ve silently plead and silently thanked. And in all times, I’ve looked at this and seen my Savior.
I have a new phone which has the ability to detect faces before it enters “portrait mode”, a mode that focuses on the person, letting the background fade into a blur. If it doesn’t detect a face it won’t enter into portrait mode and it won’t focus on what’s most important in the frame.
As I pointed my phone at the face of Jesus, it gave me this message: “No person detected”.
I was immediately sad for two reasons. One- I wouldn’t be able to take the really cool picture of the Christus I’d had in mind. I was sad my phone didn’t see Him like I did, that it couldn’t recognize His face.
Then I thought of all the people that see Jesus but don’t recognize Him for who He really is. They give off the message “No Savior detected.” Then they can’t focus on what’s most important.
This saddens me because He isn’t just the reason for the season. He’s the reason for everything.
When don’t recognize Him for who He is- our Savior, our Redeemer, our friend-we miss out on so much.
But when we focus on Him, the things that don’t really matter blur into the background. Pain can be lessened. Grief can be softened. Joy can be magnified. And love can abound.
Now that the Christmas season is winding down, I hope people don’t lose their focus. I hope they’ll always be able to see Him, and in turn, see themselves.
For who He is defines who we are. He is our brother. We are children of God. He is our Savior. We are worthy to be saved. He’s our Redeemer. The entire purpose of this life is our redemption and exaltation. He is our examplar. We are His disciples. He is our friend. And we are His.
