Last week there was a stir in the art world! Banksy, the mysterious street artist, revealed his latest piece of work. It took a few days for people to discover the artwork located in Marseille, France.

It features a real metal post with a shadow that leads to the silhouette of a lighthouse along with the words, ‘I want to be what you saw in me’.

Last summer, Banksy produced a series of nine pictures of animals across London. Many people travelled all over the capital to get a selfie with the art!

The silhouette of a wolf howling at the moon painted on a satellite dish in Peckham, south London was stolen. Banksy’s work is unique, desirable and priceless.

The elusive artist has been doing this for years mainly in urban settings. I like the mystery and creativity of his work.

I was particularly struck by the new image and wording in Marseille. The street post’s ‘shadow’ becomes a light house. It seems to me that it is wanting or dreaming of being something else.

The text, ‘I want to be what you saw in me’, carry’s a sense of longing, transformation and destiny. There is something profound and even prophetic in this piece of art.

Firstly, there is the desire to be something more, and secondly the idea of becoming what somebody else sees.

This reminded me of God and us. The Christian message is about God redeeming in people who they are meant to be in Him.

God does not see us as others do or how we may see ourselves. Over the years, I have talked with people who are hurt, broken and rejected. I point them to a God who sees them differently: who loves them, accepts them, heals them and transforms them.

I have encountered people who deeply desire to become the people God sees and wants them to be. It’s like there is a longing for more, to be transformed and become all that God intended.

This is the very thing that God does! He sees us differently and has made a way for us to become those people in Him. The Bible puts it like this…

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

— 2 Corinthians 5:17 The NIV Bible

Let me encourage you to take a moment to ponder Banksy’s art. Are you the post, or the lighthouse? Have you become all that God sees in you?

God bless you :)

Gary Bastin - Hope Community Church leader