There has been a rash of “sightings” lately with which unbelievers have been having a field day.  I refer to “Jesus sightings” people are claiming in such things as clouds, Cheetos, dental X-rays, cooking utensils, windows, walls, and trees. Wikipedia even has an entry for it (“Perceptions of religious imagery in natural phenomena”). People vehemently defend the idea that these are intentional, divinely sent images. Meanwhile, secular and agnostic witnesses to such claims gather up baby and bathwater together, using such superstitiousness to show how deluded those in Christendom really are. Yet, while responding to superstition in religion would be a fitting use of time, another thing comes to mind when hearing these sad stories.  It is a reminder that people are looking for Jesus in all the wrong places.

They want some heavenly sign, some overwhelming feeling, some sensory sensation, and some sort of religious fireworks to create or validate their faith.  While God has embedded plenty of these in the marvels of nature and creation, through the product of answered prayer that defies logic or explanation, and by the amazing process of transformation that occurs when people follow Christ, He calls on us to seek for Him in a much less electrifying and cataclysmic place.

When we pick up God’s Word and regularly, intently read, meditate, and study (cf. Psalm 1) it, we see Jesus come alive in powerful, sustaining ways!  When we walk with the Lord each day, the resulting relationship built on His character and our trust in Him is powerful!  When we actively serve Him and others and put into practice what He teaches us through the Bible, we see Jesus in a vivid way.  Daily Christian living, the longer we practice it, brings Jesus into unmistakable, clear focus.  Maybe that is what these “seers” truly desire, and what they need is our help to truly find Him.  Let us take that as a challenge and help people really “see Jesus” (cf. John 12:21; Heb. 2:9).

Neal Pollard