Blue Eyed Jesus

Alright, I have this picture of Jesus in my office that sits on the top of my bookshelf. It's old and it is made out of velvet. It is a profile of Jesus looking toward heaven, but there are some characteristics that almost make me laugh. First, Jesus has flowing blond hair. Hair that looks like he had just run a brush through it about a hundred times. It makes me think of watching Marcia Brady sit in her room brushing her hair over and over again.

The second characteristic in my velvet Jesus (I hesitate to call it that because I do not want people to think I got this concept from Rob Bell and his book "Velvet Elvis." I am talking about the King of Kings here) is that he has blue eyes. I mean these eyes are bright blue. You can not miss them.

Here is the problem. Jesus, being Jewish, would not have blond hair and blue eyes. Someone has taken the liberty to create Jesus the way they see Him, not the way He really appeared. This picture drives me nuts! I know, you are wondering why I have it in my office. The reason I keep it in my office is for it to be a constant reminder to let Jesus be Jesus.

I am sometimes like this artist who gave Jesus blue eyes. Sometimes I follow Jesus based on how I think He should be, not how he really is. I paint my own mental picture of Him and then live by that, only to see the picture I have painted is the opposite of what Jesus is like.

The picture has become a constant reminder to be true to the character of Jesus. Actually, I am growing quite fond of my blue eyed Jesus because the more I focus on the character of Jesus, the more I am attracted to Him as the redeemer, and the physical characteristics just don't matter.