Some call it "people watching" and it is sport to many, a hobby. Cheap fun. "Let's go to the mall and watch people". It is a very entertaining activity. It can make you laugh or cry or get totally frustrated. It can have all the makings of a good movie. Sometimes it can be the better choice.
Instead of calling it "people watching" what if we called our hobby "reading people"? Would we realize that there are many pages in someone's book of a life, many chapters? We look at the cover or read one page and think that we know a person. I have done this before and have been grossly mistaken.
Have you ever skimmed through a book for a school assignment thinking you had the gist of it only to fail the comprehension test? Me too.
How do you want to be read? I have been giving this a lot of thought. There have been plenty of people who have "skimmed pages" of my life, people who have a concept of who I am, but they have no idea. Not really. If the Lord would give them a comprehension test on who I am, would they be able to pass?
This is not my biggest concern. My biggest concern is how I observe the chapters of another's life.
Have you ever read Luke 7? A sinful woman was anointing Jesus, the sinful bathing Holy with sweet perfume. Touching Him. In public! Observers were having conversations about the woman and the Lord in their heads. They were reading the page her life book was presently opened to. Jesus spoke to their observations ... basically He summed it up with, "she is doing the right thing and she loves Me". I wonder if He wanted to add "do you?"
Do our pages, chapters, in the book of our lives resemble the book of that woman's? We all have a sin chapter. Hopefully we all have a chapter where we have rescued from sin. When others read our pages do they see how much we love Jesus? Really love Him? Do we love Him? Would He speak to those standing around us who are reading our pages, saying, "she is forgiven, she loves me, her act of worship pleases Me"? Does our love for Jesus affect the way we read the pages of another's life story? I hope so.
"Lord, I ask for grace."
"Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to who little is forgiven, the same loves little." Luke 7:47
I admit that I'm a people watcher. Possibly started from always being "on the outside looking in" when I was a child. Had lots of time to observe. I've learned to tell when people are sad or angry or happy. Your insights are very thought-provoking.
ReplyDeleteOh my friend...sadly there are chapters in my life that need some serious editing. Choices I have made. Mistakes. Prodigal wanderings. Pages I wish could be torn out and forgotten. Pages I wish no-one ever reads...yet, they are part of my story. And...if others did read them, would they discard the 'book' without reading further? Would they give up on the 'story'?
ReplyDeleteSo thankful that the Author of my life continues to pen His Words over my life if I allow the writing tool to remain in His Hands. Too often I've snatched it away thinking I had a better ending or a more exciting paragraph. I have been so wrong. Every page, paragraph, sentence, word and letter need to be His alone.
"Lord, I ask for grace."
Joy