Life, Magnified

Did you ever play with a magnifying glass as a child? Or, place it over a bug to see every detail?

When I was young, I remember watching a large, black beetle emerge from a crevice in our driveway. Wanting to see it up close, I positioned the magnifying glass over it. At first, I thought it was awesome—until I noticed the sharp pinchers and its pointy-looking appendages. Eww! Not what I expected!

Then, I decided to look at gentler things: a butterfly that landed on a branch, a rock in the garden soil, a blade of grass in the yard, and a flower in the garden. But what did I see in the magnifying glass? A  coiled hook on the butterfly’s mouth, divots in the rock, spiny edges on the blade of grass, and a horn-like part on a bee's face coming out of the flower.

One afternoon, while playing in the yard, I got a splinter in my finger. My mother retrieved the magnifying glass. As she placed it over my finger, she pointed out the pattern of tiny swirling lines. “Everyone’s fingerprints are different,” she said. “Do you know that no one else in the world has fingerprints like yours?” I was so amazed by this fact that I hardly noticed it when she removed the splinter.

These days, I still use a magnifying glass on occasion, but I don’t like using it on myself. What do I see? Age spots on my arms. Large pores on the sides of my nose. Tiny lines that accompany the spaces surrounding wrinkles in my face. My adult version of Eww! Not what I wanted, even if expected.   

However, if there was anyone whose life was ever magnified, it was that of Jesus Christ. His enemies scrutinized Him. They magnified every word or action, turned against Him, and twisted their interpretation of who He really was: the Son of God, blameless and without sin.

Talk about magnification: Jesus took with Him the sin of man upon that cross as He gave His life for each of us. 

Sometimes, I wonder what God sees when He looks at me. I start to frown, but am reminded He isn’t looking at me through a magnifying glass. He overlooks every splotch and flaw on the outside of me and every speck of sin on the inside.

As a child of the King, He sees through my flaws. I am comforted beyond measure to know that I am forgiven. 

And He loves me—and He loves YOU!
  

Photo courtesy of Vecteezy.com
(Blog adapted from an earlier post) 

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