August 18

Reflecting God's Glory

“And we with our unveiled faces reflecting like mirrors the brightness of the Lord, all grow brighter and brighter as we are turned into the image that we reflect; this is the work of the Lord who is Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18 JB

When I first read this translation I thought, “I don’t ever remember reading this verse before.” That is because the translations that I was familiar with use the word “beholding” rather than reflecting. Actually the Greek word katoptrizo can be translated either way. Perhaps the LORD meant that word to be used for just that reason. The only way we can reflect God is to behold God. We cannot mirror His image if we have never seen Him. When Moses went to meet God on Mount Sinai, he came down from the mountaintop reflecting God’s glory. He had to wear a veil on his face because the light that reflected from him blinded the people. The glory that shown from Moses’ face faded with time and he was able to remove the veil. We need to continually behold the Father if we wish to be able reflect His glory continually. It is not a one-time deal. If we wish to maintain the reflection, we need to be continually beholding. Paul tells us that we do not need to veil our faces; to do so would hide the fact that we have been with God. We are to shine with the glory of God, reflect his love and character to all with whom we come in contact. The more time we spend with the God, the brighter our countenance will grow: others will notice it, for we will shine!

Father, help us to spend more time with you, to behold you and then to reflect you to the world. Help us to see you in all your beauty and majesty and then let us go forth into the world and shine. We cannot live on the mountaintop forever, Lord, so help us to go forth into the world and enable our very countenance to invite others to join us on the mountaintop to worship you! Amen