Once, before Photoshop computer software which enables graphic designers to do all kinds of fancy things to pictures, I had the task of producing a photographic image to illustrate an article about “double-mindedness.”  I had to do it the old-fashioned way.  The plan was to take a double-exposure picture of a frog so it looked like one animal with two heads.  The idea was simple.  First, I’d take a picture of the frog looking one way, then I’d turn it around and take another picture of it facing the other way, all on the same piece of film.  I set up a backdrop stage on my African porch, caught a frog in a nearby swamp, and went to work!  Ha!  Did you ever try to get a frog to sit still?

     The first part of the picture was fairly simple.  But turning it around for the double-exposure was the thing of which nightmares are made. The critter just would not sit still, even for a fraction of a second!  Frustrated almost to tears, I tried to think of ways to get it to sit still.  Evil thoughts of smearing glue on its underside to simply nailing the thing to a board crossed my mind, but were quickly dismissed as a bit “over the top.”  I needed a more humane way.  A-hah!  I remembered in my high school days a certain biology lesson told about hibernation.  Frogs hibernate.  Maybe, I reasoned, if I could get the frog to start a hibernation, he’d be less likely to jump around.  But that presented the challenge of getting its body temperature to drop.

     No problem.  Over my wife’s objections, I stuck the frog in the freezer.  I promised her I’d take it out in about ten minutes.  But no sooner did I place the frog in the freezer than some dear fellow missionaries came for a visit.  By the time they left, it was dark and time to get the kids ready for bed.  Everyone forgot about the frog.  That is until the next morning when we were eating breakfast.  Someone said, “The frog!”  We all screamed, “The frog!”  I rushed to the freezer not knowing what I’d find.  I slowly and fearfully opened the freezer door.  There he was, eyes wide open, a beautifully preserved solid chunk of frozen flesh!  Fatefully I said, “I think its dead, but its preserved beautifully. Perfect for my picture.” That was not, I repeat, not, the best choice of words.  Of course my wife burst into tears while my children simply gave me that, “Dad, how could you….” look.

     With a heavy heart, but still determined to get my picture, I took the frozen frog outside and took all kinds of pictures.  No jumping around this time.  My double-exposures went flawlessly.  I worked fast because I was sure once it thawed I’d have a very dead frog on my hands, and I just wasn’t in the mood to photograph a dead limp frog.

     But then a remarkable thing happened.  My son, Philip, saw it first.  “Dad,” he yelled, “the frog’s eyes are moving!”  Sure enough.  Then there was a slow blink.  Next its head moved ever so slightly.  In short order the Kenya sun had that little fellow all thawed and hopping merrily around.  My wife wiped her tears.  My kids smiled again.  Together we triumphantly carried him to the swamp.  The last thing we ever saw of that little guy was when he took a giant leap and disappeared into his own special world of tall grass. (And, I’m sure, with quite a tale to tell….)

     “Why,” you might ask, “would a sane human being want to illustrate something like a “double-minded man?”  Simple.  Because the Bible says that God doesn’t like or want His people to be that way.

     Take, for example, Lot found in the Old Testament.  He was a double-minded man who wanted to have it both ways — that is, to worship the true God of his uncle, Abraham, AND he wanted to enjoy the pleasures of this world which the evil city of Sodom provided.  Actually he moved his family into the city and even sat proudly at Sodom’s gate as one of it’s elders.  He was a straddler.  Neither hot nor cold.  So compromised was he that when he tried to tell his married daughters and their husbands that they should flee Sodom because God was going to destroy it, they wouldn’t believe him nor would anyone else.

     Not only that, but when judgement fell, only his wife and two daughters still living at home escaped.  And even during the escape, his wife was so attached to the city she disobeyed by looking back.  She died instantly. (Read the story for yourself in Genesis 19.)  What tragedy “double-mindedness” brought to this family.

     It seems God interprets “double-mindedness” as a blending of the spiritual with the worldly.  Or, as the book of Revelation says, someone who is neither hot nor cold, but lukewarm.  Actually, the Holy Spirit inspired the writer of the book of James to use “double-mindedness” as the overall theme of the book.

     While we are not saved by our good deeds, they certainly mirror our faith.  As an example James 2:14-18 teaches, “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?  Can such faith save him?  Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?  In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.  But someone will say, ‘You have faith; I have deeds.’  Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.”

Camouflage is a handy gift God has given to the critters of the wild.  Camouflage helps protect against predators; at the same time, it helps predators sneak up on its target without being seen.

     Camouflage is defined as “…concealment through absence of contrast.”  This lack of contrast between an animal and its background is due to certain physical qualities such as the over-all texture and color of the body covering.  Every time you walk through the fields or woods you may pass right by a creature and never see it.  Because of its lack of contrast, it blends in deceptively with weeds, foliage or trees.

     When you look at an object, you clearly see its colors and varying tones.  But the thing your eye is mainly taken with is its silhouette.  In camouflage, the silhouette is broken up.  The picture at the beginning is a frog, and he’s pretty well concealed without much of a silhouette showing.  The picture on the far left is a bird almost the same color and markings as the tree bark.  While the silhouette of the butterfly is pronounced, still, it’s design resembles a flower bud.  The roaring lion, on the other hand, is downright freightening.  Anyone seeing it — in full silhouette — would either be frozen with fear, or would turn and run away as fast as possible.

NATURE-ly SPEAKING several spiritual lessons can be learned from camouflage.

1. The Bible says that Satan is like a roaring lion.  I’m sure most sane people would not be inclined to cozy up to it. Quite the opposite. They’d break Olympic records dashing away. Of course, the wily devil is aware of his fearful reputation, so, like the deceiver that he is, he resorts to disguise and camouflage to trap his victims.  Often he transforms himself into “…an angel of light….” causing people to believe he is good when in reality he is worse than bad, he’s evil!  I’m sure this is the background of today’s cults, isms, and false religions.
2. Unfortunately many christians look at a “camouflaged” gospel.  To them it is not in sharp silhouette.  They don’t see or understand it’s message, therefore, they cannot apply its principles to their lives.  They just don’t get it!  An interesting story is told in Mark 8:14-18: Jesus had just miraculously fed one group of 5000 men and later, 4000 people.  Then, he and his disciples left the area, got into a boat and started crossing the lake. The Bible says, (vs 14-18) “But the disciples discovered they had forgotten to bring any food,  so there was only only one loaf of bread with them in the boat.  As they were crossing the lake, Jesus warned them, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod.”  They decided he was saying this because they hadn’t brought any bread.  Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he said, “Why are you so worried about having no food?  Won’t you ever learn or understand?  Are your hearts too hard to take it in?   You have eyes — can’t you see?  You have ears — can’t you hear?  Don’t you remember anything at all?  What about the 5000 men I fed with five loaves of bread?….”   Somehow the disciples, even though they saw, heard, and even participated in the miracles Jesus had just performed did not apply the truth to themselves.  They were still looking at a “camouflaged” gospel.  To them it was not in sharp sillhouette.  As a result, they, like many of us, could not live by its principles.

Let us faithfully study God’s Word, the Bible, asking God for wisdom so we can understand it in sharp contrast and blazing silhouette.