We Become What We Behold
A few days ago, I was washing dishes and listening to worship music at 1am. I hit “shuffle” and the song “Come and Behold Him” came on. I’d SOMEHOW never heard the song before. Halfway through the song, Chandler Moore says “We Become What We Behold”. I shut off the faucet, put the sponge down and started the song over. That line got me. “We Become What We Behold”. We surely have all heard different versions of that expression. “You are what you think about” comes to mind as the clearest versions of that.
As a follower of Christ, that line hit me differently. Jesus is our focus. He is who we behold. I thought of the word “behold” and while I generally know what it means, I decided to research its roots culturally and biblically. Webster's Dictionary defines Behold as “to gaze upon: to observe”. If the word “behold” is translated from its Hebrew version (hinneh) and its Greek version (idou), into our modern English language it would be “look and learn” “see” and “notice”.
So, back to that line that made me stop doing dishes. “We Become What We Behold”. When we behold something, it enthralls us. We are captivated by it. We long for it. We are in awe of whatever we behold. And by FIXATING on what we behold, we do indeed become it. By become it, I simply mean, it becomes the number one thing we are most focused on. I sat down and thought of my life. What is beholding me? What am I captivated by? What am I longing for? To be honest with y’all, Jesus wasn’t always the first answer.
Things we are fixated on are not always bad things. Jobs, Work, Money, Relationships, Social Issues, etc.., they all have their place. But as I looked at my life, I had to ask myself, “If Jesus is who you are beholding Henry, what is standing in your line of sight to him?” And the inventory of things in my life that want to stand between me and Jesus was lengthier than I care for. The things I want to behold and are fighting for my attention aren’t always Jesus.
In God’s goodness, I was floored anew by the fact that Jesus is so beautiful. He is so worth it. We are living in a world that doesn't want us to believe that. But no matter what we are going through, if we live with that as our focus, the words of 2 Corinthians 3:18 come alive. “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image. From one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” From glory to glory.
That’s such good news! The more we focus on beholding Jesus, the more we become like him! My soul has been so weary lately thinking through all the things I feel the need to focus on. They are noble and important. But none more important than Jesus.
