They have been redeemed from human kind...
and in their mouth is no guile...
Revelation 14:4-5
Does the picture above make your mouth water? I am a vegetarian and would never dream of eating this burger, but I must say that it looks delicious. However, if I were to go to the fast food restaurant that advertises this luscious sandwich, what I would be handed in my paper wrapper or little cardboard box would bear no resemblance whatsoever to this photograph. The meat would be flat and slightly gray, the onions would be an oily white (never purple), the tomato very thinly sliced and buried in the bun, and what little lettuce I could find? Shredded iceburg - limp and palest green. Does this yummy burger even exist? Maybe at someone's backyard grilling party, but never from the Mickey D's down the street.
My father always taught me that I should live my life as though I had a sign attached to my person that said:
What you see is what you get!
Although my dad preached this gospel to anyone who would listen, this proclamation did not originate with him. The disciple John, writing his thoughts while imprisoned on the isle of Patmos, was inspired with the same idea. He, being a fisherman all his life, used the word "guile" - fishbait or a baited hook - to illustrate a life of transparency. A hook is used to fool the fish. The people of God that John describes in Revelation, have no fish hook: no deceit, no deception, no lie. They are transparent people.
Living life as an open book is not an easy proposition in this murky, less-than-truthful world. We do not want to appear innocent, inexperienced, simple, or (heaven forbid!) pure. But I would love to return to a societal norm where your word is the pledge of your integrity and your character. The world we live in may be way beyond such niceties, but I am going to pledge myself to endeavor to stand in the brightest light of truth - unafraid of scrutiny. Join me?
