Picture Frames

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ike me, you probably have them sitting in various rooms of your home.  They adorn coffee tables, end tables, nightstands, dressers, desks, bookshelves, and adhere to the refrigerator in the kitchen courtesy of the magic of magnets.  I’m talking about picture frames and no matter where you go, stores are selling them and people are buying them!

The hard part is finding just the perfect frame to fit your personality and to make sure it doesn’t clash with the decor of your home.  But all in all, the frame is destined for just one purpose:  to display the photograph of someone we hold very dear and who is very precious to us.

I remember my grandmother’s home.  In her living room was a table covered with picture frames.  Each frame was different but each one held a picture that was particularly precious and important to her. There were pictures of my mom and her brother as children, there were wedding pictures, graduation pictures, family portraits, and pictures of all the grandchildren in various stages of development.  She kept all of these because they reminded her of her family and of important moments in her life.

It should come as no surprise to us that the Scriptures themselves demonstrate just how important God’s people are to Him.  Throughout the pages of the Bible, we find example after example and passage after passage which remind us of God’s faithfulness and love for those who have placed their faith in Him.  But every once in a while, a certain passage is worded in such a way that it just grabs you.  That is what I want to discuss with you today as we look at a small verse from Deuteronomy 32.

In this chapter, God recounts to Moses His care for His people.  God refers to the people as Jacob for it is from him that Israel takes its name.  Jacobs’ name was changed to Israel after his wrestling match with the angel.  As the chapter progresses, He explains in greater detail how He cared for and protected Jacob in all his wanderings.  One of the prettiest passages comes in Deuteronomy 32:10, “In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye, “  

The apple of the eye is a description reserved for the most precious of possessions and is used in conjunction with someone or several people we hold dear.  Here, however, God says that Jacob is the apple of His eye because the Lord cared for him, protected him, and nourished him.  It was as if God had a picture of the people in a prominent place and looked at it several times a day.

I understand that this is a poor analogy, but all analogies we make when speaking bout our God are poor.  There is no way we can even begin to understand His greatness or His love towards us.  However, here in this passage we see a great truth that God cares for His people, not only Israel, but also all those who have accepted Jesus Christ as savior and lord.

Does God have a picture of you?  If you know Jesus Christ as your personal savior, the answer is yes.  Our Heavenly Father wants us to know that we are indeed the apple of his eye.  That’s how important you are to him today.