Isaiah 66.19 “I
will set a sign among them, and I will send some of those who survive to the
nations—to Tarshish, to the Libyans and Lydians (famous as archers), to Tubal
and Greece, and to the distant islands that have not heard of my fame or seen
my glory. They will proclaim my glory among the nations.” – God
It is the job of the believer to evangelize – to share
the goodness and greatness of God; to proclaim His glory.
Glory is a funny word that means, weight. We tend to think of glory as brilliance and light, and
while those may be part of glory, the real deal is weight, like gold. Gold is
heavy. Gold has glory…just ask the guy who hoards it…
To worship a deity, there must be glory or the deity is
ethereal. The ancients made idols of gold and silver, because to them, at least
their idols had weight; they held them in their hands; they meant something.
God carefully told His people: “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in
heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow
down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God,
punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth
generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of
those who love me and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20.4-6) In other
words, worship Me even though you can’t
see Me; in faith, believe who I am.
And God gave the ancients mighty miracles to back up His
words – His works gave Him glory; His
works meant something. He did for them what the other nation’s gods could not
do. It is hard to hold an idea in your hand – typically, you hold an idea in
your head and the fruit of the idea in your hand. An idea held is often an
object birthed. But what on earth can adequately represent God? And what can we
make to represent God that won’t become superstition; worshiping the image, not
the Person?
Glory is what we tell others about: God is glorious. And
God does glorious things. God does things no one else can ever do. God is
glorious. God works among His people and God does glorious things. Ask the
fearful if God brings peace. Ask the hurting if God brings comfort. Ask the
blind if God brings sight. Ask the sick if God heals. One of the ancients said:
“For no one could perform the signs you
are doing if God were not with him.” (John 3)
Goes does because He is glorious. He doesn’t bring trinkets
and treasures; He brings Himself. And God is glorious in His presence.
Father, I am
stumbling all over my words today. You are glorious because You are present.
You are ever-present to those in need, because You are God indeed. You do what
cannot be done and are ridiculed by the world for not showing Yourself. But You
show Your glory. You mean something. And that is why faith is so important
because it underscores Your glory. May I proclaim Your glory today. That is my
job. Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment