Sincerely Yours

How many of you have signed a letter with “Sincerely”?

In the Greek original of the New Testament the word sincere means “judged in the sunlight.”

The English word is derived from the Latin – sine cera, which means “without wax”.

In ancient times, there were instances when a person of high rank might employ a sculptor to chisel his bust in marble. Sometimes, if the chisel slipped, the end of the nose would be chipped off. Rather than go to all the trouble of making a new bust, the sculptor would mend the features with wax so that the flaw could not be detected unless by very close scrutiny.

If the client happened to be a knowing person, before paying for it, he would carry the finished piece of art, pottery or sculpture out of the studio into the open, and examine it carefully in the sunlight.

If he did not, in course of time, he would have the chagrin of seeing the nose drop off his statuette in the heated room of his house. The statue was not “sincere”, not “without wax”, and could not bear careful scrutiny in the sunlight.

Honorable sculptors began to hang a sign over the entrance to their stores that said Sine Cera. That meant, this sculptor’s work was without wax. You can hold it up to the sunlight – it could take the heat.

Are you trying to patch up problem parts of your life, or do you trust God to transform the imperfections?

Being real with God and others requires that you are first honest with yourself – honest about who you are and what you believe. God promises you a life without wax.

What blessings do you believe God has in store for those whose lives are a living expression of his love – pure, sincere, and without wax?