March 29, 2012 – Hair Coloring: Did Jesus Miss This One?
36 And do not swear by your head, for you are not able to make a single hair white or black. – Matthew 5:36 AMP
In the passage surrounding today’s verse, Jesus is talking specifically about people making vows. In the Bible, making a vow was serious business. If you vowed to do something, you had better do it, or there were some serious consequences. King Solomon says to not delay in fulfilling a vow, or don’t make one at all (Ecclesiastes 5:4). But about making hairs black or white; did Jesus miss this one or what?
The cosmetic industry makes boatloads of money annually helping people change their hair color. If people want blond or red highlights in their dark hair, there’s a bottle that will do it in just a few minutes. Men who want to feel younger are even catered to and can wash away gray hair faster than they can sit in a barber’s chair and get a haircut. And yes, we’ve all seen those wild purple and blue hairdos sported by young people in major metropolitan areas. So, in a way, humanity is able to change the color of their hair to anything they want.
I could get really crazy right now and say that Jesus knew nothing about the hair coloring industry in his day, but He did. He knew then and knows now about everything from the hair color industry to nuclear missiles. And yes, the President is not the only one with the secret codes. That’s just like Jesus: He always addressed the root of the matter.
You see, you can have whatever hair color you would like. But what happens over the course of a few weeks as your hair grows? Your true color starts to show through as the roots of your hair grow. Christians today treat their life the same way they treat their hair: they change the outside but never change the root.
Many Christians today are all about appearances. They dress up for Sunday church and attend faithfully. They have a nice, neat Bible with clean, crisp pages. Their car sports a Jesus fish eating a Darwin fish. They have a Christian keychain and Christian tee shirts to wear on their day off. They even invite people to church with them and are involved in several ministries. But behind closed doors, their life is anything but rainbows and butterflies. Their marriage is falling apart, their children are running with the wrong crowd, and they are keeping their own sins hidden very well from the world. Outwardly things look great, but the root of the believer is showing its true color.
Now I have personally never been one of those hair color kind of people, but my past life could sure relate to what I’m talking about. I lived the façade of Christianity for years, although our children were never out of control as Marlo looked after them very well while I played the part. You know what happened? Over time, the root of who I was started to show. It was rotten to the core. And Jesus was right: I couldn’t do anything to change it.
How did I change? I changed only with the help of Christ. If it wasn’t for Jesus’ forgiveness and Him pleading my case before God, I don’t know where I would be right now. He changed to root of my being. The same Savior Who can permanently change my hair color changed me from the inside out. But many Christians, even after receiving their salvation, do the same thing I did. They try to look the part rather than let Jesus take over.
That is a truth I wish everyone, not just believers, could come to realize. Sadly there are so many self-help books on how to do so much in today’s world that our society has become self-reliant. Many times our attitude is I can do it on my own. When we don’t rely on help from others, we have a sense of accomplishment and sometimes even a spirit of pride. And that’s where life can get tricky.
The whole move toward self-reliance was undoubtedly thought up be someone who was not a Christian. And it has started to take its toll on our faith as well. Christians often get so involved in a certain ministry that they basically take ownership of it. It’s okay to be proud of your accomplishments, but God must always be glorified in them. You must never be the root of what you do. If you make yourself the root, disaster will loom before any task is completed.
To solve this epidemic, we must make Jesus the root of our life. If Jesus is at the core of who we are, there will be no need for artificial coloring. He will guide and direct our every thought and deed. There will be no need to put on a show for everyone to see because they will all see you for who you really are. And believe me, I know all too well from personal experience that a genuine and open Christian is much more effective that one who plays the part.
So did Jesus miss is about the hair thing? Nope. He nailed it dead in the bull’s eye nearly two thousand years away.
If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be! TRUST JESUS NOW
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