Free the Frog

The LORD make his face to shine upon thee…

Numbers 6:24a KJV

In 1965, Shirley Bassey recorded a song simply titled, People. Although you may not know the entire tune, the opening line is one you probably can sing, “People, people who need faces, are the luckiest people in the world.” Wait…, I may have gotten that wrong…, or maybe I didn’t. I have come to realize in the last year how important faces are, and how much we all need them staring back at us. The area that spans the distance from cheekbone to chin covers barely 6 inches, and yet, that prime real estate defines our ability to relate to one another as human beings. It is interesting, that that small span is what the world has attempted to take away from us.

I recently attended a housewarming. It had been the home of an elderly church member who had gone on to be with the Lord. Her grandchildren had purchased the house and remodeled it. They have done a wonderful job but that is not what caught my attention. As I sat at the kitchen table, enjoying the company of a dear lady, I soaked in the scene. The forty people who were packed into this home were laughing and talking and sharing life. The moment was a healing balm to my soul. The thought occurred to me how human the setting was and how precious it is for people to share life through the God-given vehicle of lips and teeth and noses, you know, those things that the world has insisted we cover up. I could actually hear everyone clearly because no one was muffled by cloth or paper. In this home, and with this family, the frog has jumped out of the beaker and is no longer being slowly boiled to death. Kermit has been set free from the clutches of the devious Miss Piggy.

In the book of Numbers, the Lord told Moses to speak to Aaron concerning the blessing that he should bestow upon children of Israel. He was told to say to the people the following, “the Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.” If you will notice, there are two references regarding the face of the Lord. He reveals His graciousness to us through His shining face and grants us peace by lifting up His countenance upon us. Turning to the New Testament, we find Paul in the book of Colossians stating the marvelous truth concerning Christ in us, the hope of glory. The glory of God shines through us to others by way of our faces. I am not surprised that our enemy desires to cover and hide the glory of God. I, for one, have escaped from the boiling cauldron of restrictive measures to the freedom of Christ. I may not have the prettiest face, but I am determined to let Christ shine through it. I refuse to be muzzled.