What You See Is What You Get!

WYSIWYG is a popular computing acronym which simply means ‘What You See Is What You Get’. But it has also assumed a meaning beyond the world of computing to describe a person whose character is transparent and exemplary, with no hidden or unpleasant characteristics. How the person is seen to behave is an exact representation of the true character of the individual. Another way of putting it is that they are the ‘same all the way through’ – which means that they have integrity.

While the acronym WYSIWYG was completely unknown in Solomon’s day, the principle that this acronym stands for was definitely not unknown. In Proverbs Chapter 6:16-19, for example, we read of things that the Lord hates, three of which are a lying tongue, a heart that devises wicked schemes, and a false witness who pours out lies.

A person may want to give the impression that they are pure and truthful. But if in their heart they are devising evil things and lies they can tell, then what people see on the outside is definitely not the same as what they are like on the inside. God hates it when mankind, who was made by God in the image and likeness of their Creator, behaves in a way that is contrary to His character.

But the fact is that every single one of us carries the stain of sin in our hearts which God hates. In reality, none of us can say that we are 100% WYSIWYGs! Our sin can be forgiven because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, but this side of Heaven the sin seed, with all its evil potential, is always in our hearts. This is often described as our carnal nature, meaning that we will always fail the WYSIWYG test!

But that’s not true of God. When Jesus walked this earth what people saw on the outside was always a true reflection of the inside. He was without sin and at all times He was a pure, 100% clean representative of His Father, God. And the crucial difference between Jesus and every other human being was that because of sin all of mankind is under the curse of death. But sinless Jesus was the bringer of life – life in all its fulness.

Only Jesus could have said those amazing words from John 14:6,“I am the way, the truth and the life.” For only He is the way to the Father. Only His lips spoke total truth. And only He could be the bringer of life into a world that was under the sentence of death. When people met Jesus, what they saw really was what they got! When they heard Jesus speak, they heard what God the Father would say. And in verse 9 of John 14 Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.”

So, when we read in our Scripture for today that “whoever finds Me (God), finds life”, we are reading the truth that was vitally important to people of that day, but we are also reading a prophetic truth about Jesus which is relevant to us here and now – whoever finds Him, finds life! He is not a deceiver, His teaching won’t ever disappoint, His words will never turn out to be lies, His promises will never let you down. In Jesus what you see is exactly what you get!

Prayer: Thank You, Jesus, that You faithfully represented Father God to a fallen and broken world. Your Word promises that if we truly seek You we will surely find You. And when we find You, we will find life – resurrection life – life from the dead. Help me, Lord, never to forget who You are, where you came from and that one day I will be together with You in Heaven. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.