Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Radiance and Photography






God used photography to reveal something to me this morning. In Psalm 19:8 it says "The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are RADIANT, giving light to the eyes." In photography, we call the light in the eyes of our subjects "catchlights". These catchlights are what give the image life. The closer you are to the lightsource (window, doorway, studio light), the more light will be in your subjects eyes and the more soft and beautiful your lighting will be.


This verse tells us the same thing about our lives. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving LIGHT to the eyes. Why do we have the Bible and all the teaching and commands? To give us light and LIFE more abundantly. Following God's laws does not make you good or perfect in God's eyes, because we are still all sinners and separated from God. Only believing that Jesus died for YOU and that He is your Savior will do that. God's grace is not something you have to earn, just something you have to truly believe. However, we have the choice in this life to live our own way, setting our Bibles aside and living on our own, or to seek Him and His way and receive the life giving Light. God's "catchlight". That Light is what makes us presentable to God and it is what makes our lives beautiful, just like the catchlight makes the image beautiful.


Here is a snapshot of my little cousin Ethan. He is in front of a huge window, close to the lightsource. The light in his eyes is what makes this image pleasing. The fact that he is close to the window is what makes the lighting soft and beautiful. If you look close into his eyes, you can see the photographer. My prayer is that when people look closeup into my eyes, that the Lightsource will shine brightly and they will see Jesus standing there waiting with forgiveness, mercy and grace.

2 comments:

urban grace photography said...

love This:) You are an inspiration!

Natalie Howell said...

Thanks Julie :) The Psalm was the inspiration, not me! All of Psalm 19 is amazing.