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My Life as a Super Model
I was so proud of my first grader. Really, it was one of those Mom moments when you’re just about busting at the seams with pride.
She had done such an incredible job on her first ever school project that the teacher showed it around to the school staff and administration. They decided to record her class presentation and air it on the school morning news program.
Of course, I was excited to see her “performance,” so the teacher very sweetly sent home a recording of her presentation when it was done.
And I about died.
My daughter clearly explained all about her project and what she learned. Then she started talking about the different places we visited in our town and what she did there.
Pointing to a picture of our local Visitor Center, she said, “This is where people go when they are visiting Gloucester and find out all about it. Only my mom said we couldn’t go in there because it has stuff that is too valuable and we might break the valuable stuff.”
Wait. What did I say?
I mean, did those words really come out of my mouth?
And did she in fact tell the entire school population, teachers, staff and administration what I said?
Okay, maybe I remember telling my kids that we should probably skip going inside the Visitor Center and go somewhere with more space and fewer fragile knick-knacks that I couldn’t afford to pay for if we broke them.
After all I have three children, each with two hands. That’s a lot of hands to keep under control when you walk into a small shop with eye-catching, breakable objects everywhere.
So, maybe I did say that.
This was an unmistakable reminder to me that being a mom makes me a super model.
By that I don’t mean I’m a highly made-up elegant fashionista strutting her stuff in 5-inch heels on a runway.
No, I’m the kind of super model who has three little women-of-God-in-training taking notes on everything I say and do. Not only that, my biggest fans aren’t afraid to share my “words of wisdom” with the world around them.
That’s a pretty big crowd looking to see me show off my God fashion.
We are all walking, talking models for somebody. Someone on this earth is watching you. Maybe your kids. Maybe your unsaved husband. Perhaps it’s your coworkers or the girls in your small group. It’s the neighbors. It’s your friends.
That’s enough to make me shake in my boots (well, canvas sneakers. Remember, I’m not that kind of super model).
What responsibility!
What privilege!
What trust God has placed in us, allowing us to be the earthly representatives of Him and His Son! Unfortunately, how often we let Him down and mar His name with the grime of our own sin, selfishness, and mistakes.
For Jesus, this wasn’t a problem. He never failed His Father or misrepresented grace to the world. When Philip asked Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father,” Jesus’ answer was clear: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father . . .Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does His works” (John 14:8, 9-10, ESV).
Those who saw Jesus walking and talking on earth saw God face to face. We who only “see” Him in Scripture, can still see God’s intense compassion and shocking grace all over the Gospels.
We, however, are mistake-makers. We’re fumblers. We’re sometimes going to trip and fall down this runway. So, it’s okay to be honest with the world and tell them that’s why we need a Savior—because we’re not perfect. We’re not God.
But it’s also reason to work harder at this modeling gig we’ve been given and to keep in mind as we speak and act, that people are looking to see Jesus in us.
I personally am looking to Scripture for some super models of my own to emulate–like Mary, the teenage mother of Jesus Christ. When Gabriel appeared to her with the overwhelming news that she, a virgin betrothed to Joseph, was going to have a baby who would be the Messiah and Savior of His people, she responded with submission and praise.
The song she sings after receiving God’s news is called the Magnificat and is found in Luke 1:46-55. In her song, Mary refers to 12 different passages of Old Testament Scripture. Twelve Scripture references in ten verses. . .. now there’s a woman of the Word.
Even more importantly, we see her legacy of Bible knowledge in her kids. When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, He quoted Scripture to defeat the devil’s lies.
Sure, we can say, of course Jesus knew God’s Word. After all, He was divine!
But it wasn’t just Jesus. Mary’s other son, James, wrote a book of the Bible that is often called the “Proverbs of the New Testament.” Within five chapters, James talks about Job, Elijah, Rahab and Abraham. He refers to the books of Isaiah, Amos, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy.
In fact, his extensive references to Leviticus 19 have led some people to consider the book of James a commentary on this Old Testament passage.
He was a man of the Word. Jesus was a teacher of the Word. But, should we surprised?
After all, Mary, their super model mom, was a woman who loved Scripture. That’s what her sons could learn from her.
What can others learn from you in your life as a super model?
To read more devotional thoughts from Heather King, check out her blog here: http://heathercking.wordpress.com/
Copyright © 2008-2015 Heather King
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