As a young boy scout, I always looked forward to receiving my Boy’s Life magazine.  The articles were marginally compelling, the pictures were usually a bit cartoonish, and the stories of heroic behavior were generally inspiring.  But the joy of the magazine wasn’t what was in the front… not hardly… it was the cool stuff in the back.  I spent hours flipping back and forth through the back pages… searching for the miracle item that would bring me the most joy and success a young man could handle.

After 25 years, I still remember a few of the more impressionable items – two of which drew me closer and closer… Charles Atlas exercises… and the X-Ray Glasses.  No kidding.  The Charles Atlas advertisement had the story of the famous 98 pound weakling who had sand kicked in his face and his girlfriend stolen.  He went and did some exercises and came back to kick some butt… and got the girl back.  So I did what every young man does… I saved up my money, sent off for the Charles Atlas transformation booklet, and was gonna turn into a muscle bound girl-getter.  True story.  As for the results?  I did the exercises for a few weeks, did not become muscle bound, and lost interest.  I realize now that if a girl would allow herself to be “stolen” by a sand-kicking meat head… she wasn’t in it for the right reasons.

As for the X-Ray glasses, I never bought those.  I’ll admit there was some curiosity about peering through doors, book bags, looking at my bones, and shhhh… under people’s clothes.  Don’t judge me… I was 15… we’ve all been 15… and some of us still are.  I didn’t react to that advertisement, not because I didn’t think they would work – quite the opposite – I was totally convinced they would work.  I can’t give you the definitive rationale as to why I didn’t send off for them, but I do recall that it just seemed wrong to look under people’s clothes.  Have you gone through airport security lately… they bought the stupid glasses.

What would happen if I told you that in the back of Live Bold Magazine, buried behind the advertisements for weight loss pills, immortality pills, and government seized vehicles, you could find some glasses with lenses that allowed you to see underneath the exteriors and facades that people wear.  The kind of lenses that allowed you to see malice, hate, jealousy, biggotry, insecurity, selfishness, greed, lust, and all the ugly stuff that we keep hidden underneath our smiles and lies.

How much would you pay to see all of this?  Would you even want to see all of that?  Is it possible that your attitude towards your friends, family, and loved ones would become tainted?  Personally, I don’t want that product on the market.  However, as a Christians who follows the teaching of Christ and are filled with the Holy Spirit‘s discernment…we see things that are disturbing in us and in others.  The fruit of your own life and the fruit in other lives become dominant.  Lies and truth become easy to pull out and the Spirit of God tells you when to walk away and when to go near.

God has those “xray glasses”.  He sees us for who we are.  The Holy Spirit powers those lenses – and uses them to guide us in and out of lives, conversations, and circumstances.
We couldn’t handle seeing what God sees.  But you can live your life in such a way that there is complete transparency – nothing to hide.  Remain accountable to your faith.

We don’t offer any special X-ray glasses to look under people’s clothes, behind doors, or at our bones.  But we do offer Jesus Christ who ushers in the Holy Spirit… which are a set of glasses you REALLY need to navigate this life.  The price?  Free.