Hollywood finally got its act together in the 2016 hit Risen about a Roman soldier’s encounter with the fledging Christian community.
The man portrayed in the film was an unbeliever searching for the truth, and the truth came to him. He observed the signs of the times, and he was willing to let the revelations around him change who he was.
What signs are we giving out to those we interact with every day?
Jeremiah 48:37 gives us a sign of the grieving process:
“For every head is shaved and every beard cut off. On all the hands are gashes, and around the waist is sackcloth.”
Isaiah 15:2 says others will be able to tell if our heart is broken:
“He has gone up to the temple, and to Dibon, to the high places to weep; over Nebo and over Medeba Moab wails. On every head is baldness; every beard is shorn.”
Leviticus 21:5 tells us we should be careful in our appearance, as how we look influences others:
“They shall not make bald patches on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts on their body.”
Ezra 9:3 admits that grief can cause us to behave in catastrophic ways:
“As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled.”
Ezekiel 44:20 reveals moderation as our best course of action:
“They shall not shave their heads or let their locks grow long; they shall surely trim the hair of their heads.”
Going to the extreme, whether it’s in plastering our cars with bumper stickers declaring our devotion to God or wailing in prayer in the middle of the night isn’t in God’s plan. The signs he places for the world to see are the subtle ones, and the voice he calls us with is the whisper in the darkness.
Let’s follow God’s example, and we’ll draw even our enemies unto him.
God speaks to us with subtlety, and the world listens to us in the same way.
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