Are Things As They Seem?

They often are not.Not that long ago, I visited a couple of locations where television programs were regularly filmed for the History Channel. I was surprised both times. Television can be very deceiving. Some of it's due to the nature of camera lenses and TV screens, and the way our imagination fills in what is past the camera’s periphery. But a lot of it is intentional deception written into the director’s instructions to give the desired illusion. All-in-all, these two locations were entirely different from what I had expected before arriving.It’s not only that way in television. I’ve known people on a professional level and become quite disillusioned as I got to know them personally. There have been some who I respected in ministry leadership: pastors, parachurch heads, well-known preachers, where I have felt completely let down once I was in their homes or got to know their close family members and found out what the person was like in private. Too often people are more focused on their public persona and reputation than on who they really are.Who are you, really?Honestly, there is a little bit of hypocrisy in all of us. I think we all at times put on as though we are someone or something that we aren't.But God cares about who you REALLY are. That is, who you are when no one is looking. What kind of life would you live and what decisions would you make if you could get away with doing whatever you want and people only found out about what you choose to reveal? Answering that question will tell you more about your character and the real you then anything else. And that’s the you that God sees and knows.Still, he loves the real you!But he doesn’t want you to stay the way you are. He wants to help you grow. He wants your inside, your heart, to be in-tune with Him, submissive to his will, and focused on caring about others.He doesn’t want it to just look that way, but for it to be that way, even if no one found out about it. And that’s the you that He will reveal to the world some day.So who are you, really? Is your life like a television studio, arranged a certain way to show others what you want them to see? Or are you submitting your heart to God and allowing Him to mold and shape the real you? When others see who you really are, are they attracted to the Life of God in you because it is obviously much more than a pretentious display?Are things as they seem?