Reflecting the Glory

Passage: Exodus 34:29-35

A pastor I know was checking into a motel when the desk clerk, a man in his early 20’s, said, “At the risk of being too forward, can I ask you what you do for a living?” My acquaintance said, “I’m a pastor.” The clerk then said, “I know.” The pastor, a little taken aback said, “Did that show up in my credit card info?”

“No.”

“Is it the way I’m dressed?”

“No.”

“Is it my Ned Flander-ish vibe?”

“Nope,” said the clerk, “you radiate the Holy Spirit.”

My friend didn't know what to say to that. And he walked away from the conversation more than a little freaked out. But it got him thinking. How is it that you could “radiate the Holy Spirit”? And if you did, might there be people who could actually perceive it?

After spending an intense time with God on Mt. Sinai, Moses is said to have been impossible to look at. His face shone like the high beams of an oncoming car. He had to wear a veil to keep from blinding (and terrifying) the people around him. The time Moses spent in the very presence of God changed him. Moses began to reflect God’s glory.

Time spent in the presence of God changes you. This change can be so subtle you don’t notice it happening: A growing amount of patience for situations and people that used to drive you nuts; increased compassion for people whose shortcomings might have offended or inconvenienced you; a heightened sense of God’s will and a greater willingness to follow it. The change can be so radical that you and the people around you can’t mistake it: Freedom from an addiction you thought was unshakeable; adoption of a vocabulary free of the profanity that used to be automatic; loss of interest in behaviors or forms of entertainment that you didn’t want to let go.

Many who decide to adopt a daily, intensive program of reading or Bible study are initially disappointed. The improvement in quality of life they anticipated isn’t immediately perceptible. But those who stick with it later recognize the ways their time spent with God changes not their lives, but themselves. The purpose of reading through the Bible systematically is not primarily to know more about the Bible's content. It’s to spend time daily in the presence of God. If you do so, you will be changed. You will begin, in subtle but significant ways, to do what you were created to do: reflect God’s glory.