Ok people, you may not like what I’m about to say, but here it goes…Instagram, is NOT real life! There, I said it! But before you throw your smart phone at me, hear me out! What I mean is this, the pictures that you see posted just might not be real! If we’re being honest, most of them were posted after a rigorous selection process!
Think about it, we’ve all done it, after 3 hours of taking and deleting selfies, we somehow manage to find the perfect one. To finally arrive at that perfect picture, we had to find the right lighting angle, the precise arm to hip ratio as we extended ourselves in “selfie” poses, I mean it is arguably award winning photography!
Once we’ve found the right picture, then we have this incredible assortment of filters to choose from! Now, honestly, most of us aren’t posing for nor spending 3 hours taking selfies, but we’ve all discovered the power of a good filter! I mean, the right filter, can literally change the entire picture, it can take a picture that is too dark, or too exposed and once applied, it looks like you took it at Glamour Shots (does anyone else remember Glamour Shots?)
But what a powerful thought, that the right filter, can change the way we see things. Think of a filter in it’s classic definition,
filter: a device that is effective in removing unwanted elements or preventing them from passing into a specific area
Now, lets look past selfies and into real life. Much like the right filters can change a selfie I believe that having our lives flow through the right filter, can also change the picture, let’s read what Proverbs says,
“Keep your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.” Proverbs 4:23
In this context our heart represents our passion, our excitement and our zeal for life! To “have heart” means that you are of good cheer, it means you have a sense of excitement for your life. It’s so important to guard your heart, your passion, your enthusiasm, your excitement for life! See when we filter the flow of our lives through a heart that is passionate and excited, the whole picture is exciting!
Several times when Jesus healed people, he said “Be of good cheer”, which essentially means, take heart! He told the paralyzed man in Matthew 9 to take heart, he told the woman with the issue of blood to take heart. See when Jesus is in the picture of our lives, we always have something to be passionate and enthusiastic about, with Jesus in the picture, we can all be of good cheer!
So let me tell you today, that perhaps the solution to your frustration, weariness and discouragement isn’t to take another picture, I submit to you, that the solution is to take heart! Look at your current picture through the filter of the joy that Jesus brings you, the hope that he will never leave you nor forsake you. Let the current flow of your life, filter through a heart that is excited and joyful, a heart that is passionate and grateful. I promise you, like in Instagram, the right filter will change the whole picture!
Live Extraordinarily,
Jared
