Skip to main content

The masks we wear


Halloween will be here in just a couple of weeks. Most kids I know will be dressing up, hide behind a mask and pretend to be something that they're not, if only for a little while.

I think all of us hide behind a mask in our daily lives in one way or another. How many times has someone asked you how you are, or how your day has gone, and you answer "Fine," when really you're drowning in job and family obligations, wondering if you'll have what it takes to make it another week. What's so "fine" about that?

This week I taught a lesson for the Jr/Sr high school youth at my church on the topic of prayer. In part of the lesson, we studied The Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:1-13) in the NIV and Message translations. The passage talks about how the Pharisees would be very public and showy with their prayers, but God is turned off by that kind of arrogance. Sometimes you can get a clarification of what is being said by reading more than one translation. I know that I did when I gave the lesson.

Matthew 6:6 in The Message, tells us to remove our mask and be honest before God in our prayers:

"Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace."

God doesn't want us to come to him, pretending to have it all together when we're really coming undone at the seams. He wants us to come to him honestly repentant, taking off the mask of sin that hides us, and be real before him. God clothed Adam and Eve after they came out from hiding in the garden, and he will do the same for us. For if we confess our sins and stand with our heart and soul naked before God, he can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away, and clothe us in his righteousness.

Jesus calls us his friends. Removing the mask you wear and being real with Jesus is one way you can deepen your relationship with him. Try it ... you'll like it!

Comments

Mandee said…
Mary, once again... great post! It is so nice to know that the one person we can truly be honest with is God. He already knows what we need before we ask, so why not be honest with Him in what we pray for. Thanks for the good reminder!
9:25 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Stories ... We all have one ...

Isaiah 20:2-   At that time the Lord spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, and loose the sackcloth from your waist and take off your sandals from your feet,” and he did so, walking naked and barefoot. In this passage God sends Isaiah to give a warning to Israel.   In addition to using words, God instructs Isaiah to do something more.   God instructs him to walk naked and barefoot for three years!    Certainly, Isaiah felt uncomfortable about what he was being called to do, but remained obedient.   The message, Isaiah was delivering far outweighed the embarrassment of being uncovered. Sometimes when we feel the prompting of God’s Spirit to share how Jesus has changed our lives we may feel uncomfortable with what God is asking us to do.   We may feel embarrassed or ashamed to “expose” our past to others for fear that we may be ridiculed or rejected if people knew what we would rather keep hidden.   We all hav...
3 comments
Read more

Great!

Psalm 145:3  Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. All throughout history there have been men and woman who were considered great for one reason or another.   Thomas Edison was a great inventor; Madame Curie, a great scientist; Michael Jordan, a great basketball player.   Those who grew up in the 30’s and 40’s are said to be of the Greatest Generation.   And I can’t forget - Al and Martha Thuente are great parents (I ought to know – they’re mine)!   Usually what makes a person great is his or her accomplishments or reputation of doing good things.   But a person’s deeds and goodness have a limit.   No matter how great someone is, he can   only know so much, can do so much, can give so much, because his wisdom, ability and resources are finite.   Greatness can only be so great.   When we think of God, his greatness is limitless.   Even the greatest of men could not have created...
2 comments
Read more

Cardboard Prison

When I was very young I would often sit in a corner and think.  It wasn’t because I was in trouble – I was just a very introspective kind of person, even as a child.  And often my dad would ask, “What are you doing, Mary?”  “Oh, just thinking.”  “What are you thinking about?”  “Ooh, nothing…”   “Well, how do you know when you’re finished?”  and I’d usually let out a little giggle, and be off to do something else. It is often said that the times that people are most reflective about their lives    is during times of stillness, when in the quiet all they have is their thoughts.   Imagine with me if you will, that we are peering into thoughts of someone who is in that place of reflection.   Now before we go there, let me say that this person whose thoughts we are about to delve into IS NOT ME.   It is a fictional person we’ll call Alex.   Alex can be representative of anybody.   So without further ado, let’s see w...
1 comment
Read more