As I sit to write, these simple, yet profound, words came to mind.

O how I love Jesus,
O how I love Jesus,
O how I love Jesus,
because he first loved me!

Father, because of the sacrifice of Your son I am loved!

John 1:47-51 (<<click here to read the passage)

Whether we like to admit it or not, we are all fairly transparent. We may think we hide who we are, or what we think, or the actions we take behind closed doors. But in reality, the essence of who we are is known to anyone who takes the time to notice.

Admittedly there are times when the persona we thrust forth fools some of the people some of the time, but rarely does it fool all of the people all of the time.

Many of us have enough life experience to realize that there are people you can trust to keep secrets and others who you would never share anything that you would not want to be made known to the world.

How many of us would be comfortable standing before Jesus and hearing what he would have to say about who we truly are? I doubt many of us would willingly join the ranks of the religious elite in Jesus’ day. Jesus held nothing back when he called them hypocrites and vipers (examples, Matthew 23:27-28 and Matthew 12:34).

Wouldn’t it be better to join the ranks of individuals like Nathanael? When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, He said of him, “Here is an Israelite indeed [a true descendant of Jacob], in whom there is no guile nor deceit nor duplicity!” v47 AMP

To help in our thought process…

Guile – deceptiveness, deceit, fraud, duplicity, dishonesty.

Deceit – an act or practice intended to deceive; a trick.

Duplicity – intentional deceptiveness; double-dealing

I’d like to be seen that way. I try though I’m not sure I succeed as often as I would like

But interestingly enough, we may be closer to Pharisees than to a Nathanael, but God calls us all to follow and be like Him. He sees who we truly are but who also sees who we can truly be!

He accepted Nathanael and, if they would have turned from their wicked ways and wholeheartedly followed Him, Jesus would have accepted the Pharisees, as well.

Who you are now, has no bearing on Jesus’ acceptance of you. He loves you, plain and simple. There’s nothing complicated about His love. It cost Him everything but you are worth it…

Mar 15th, 2021, Mon, 7:44 pm