selfie pride vs selfie humility

A very interesting contrast to my morning...I was reading the paper and reading of what are called "selfies". What a "selfie" is is when a person uses their cell phone to take a picture of themselves and share it with everyone...as a matter of fact, if you look at the picture that accompanies this blog, the picture of me is a not-so-good attempt at a "selfie"...However, almost most of the "selfies" that are taken by people to say "Look at me", the focus being on themselves and how good they look.

But I want to contrast that to what today is (actually starting at sundown last night). It is Yom Kippur, which on the Jewish calendar is the holiest day of the year. It is the end of the "Days of Awe" that started at Rosh HaShanah, a time where the focus is on introspection and seeing where a person's life stands to see whether or not one is written in the book of life. And for many, it is a time usually for repentance and seeking forgiveness. During the Yom Kippur service, the Al Chet ("For the sin") is recited, which covers at least (by my count) 40 different areas of sin and in some synagogues is recited up to nine times!

It's a reminder of the contrast of the "look at me, how I good and beautiful I am" viewpoint of the world (which has made "selfies" a trend in which millions participate) and the viewpoint that is found in Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?"

The Word always should remind us, that our true "selfies" are not that beautiful or good. As a matter of fact, the Word reminds us of how ugly we really are because of the sin that we have in our lives. It reminds us that all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and for the need of a Savior. Fortunately on this day, in the Messianic version of the Al Chet, we not only confess our sin, but are also reminded of the gift that God has given to us through His Son to remove that ugliness and restore ourselves to the image of God, the best image to have!
"FOR ALL THESE, GOD OF REDEMPTION, FORGIVE US, AND GRANT US REDEMPTION THROUGH THE SACRIFICE OF OUR MESSIAH."