Are You Authentic?

It was a hot summer day. My friend and I were sitting on the steps of my old back porch carrying on a big conversation like eight year old do. Suddenly, I looked up and saw a man dressed in an old shabby overcoat and an old hat. He was coming around the corner of the house, head down, stumbling along as he came. My friend was continuing to talk and hadn’t spotted the man. I got up very quickly; ran across the porch to our back door; opened the screen; jumped inside and locked the screen. My friend suddenly saw the old man, jumped up and ran to the door.  Try as she might to get in, I wouldn’t unlock the screen and we both just stood there screaming. The old man stopped, took off the hat  and began laughing.  It was my daddy, who was forever playing jokes on us.  Still shaking, I unlocked the door and ran to him throwing my arms around him.

I think there is a lesson in this. Things and people sometimes are not as they seem. We hear on the news everyday about instances where a mother has abandoned her baby; a quiet, unassuming person has murdered several people; a minister has committed the unthinkable rape of a child.

What about you?  Are you authentic?  Are you really the person people see, admire, and even love?

“ Dearly loved friends, don’t always believe everything you hear just because someone says it is a message from God: test it first to see if it really is. For there are many false teachers around.” John 4:1 TLB

Although this is speaking of false teachers, I think it can also apply to all of us.  We need to be authentic.  We must not hide behind the old shabby coat and hat of our career or our family name.  We need to portray to the world who we actually are and what we truly believe. When we are tested , how do we measure up in the eyes of those around us? But, more importantly, how do we measure up in the eyes of God?