Radiant Faces
Have you ever seen someone’s face that seemed radiant – as if it had a light shining from behind the skin? Sometimes people use this word to describe women during their healthiest stage of a pregnancy. Their face might look particularly clean and fresh.
Some people work hard to achieve some measure of radiance. They wash and scrub, use extractors to remove any blemishes, apply a facial mask, rinse thoroughly with clean water and then apply moisturizers. It can be allot of work – but a clean, radiant face may be worth it.
Moses, however, achieved a radiant face through a very different means. When he came down from Mount Sinai after receiving the Ten Commandments, he didn’t realize it, but his face was radiant – “because he had spoken with the Lord.” (Exodus 34:29) As he spent time in the Lord’s presence, his face was somehow changed. It seemed to reflect the glory (and light) of God.
Our faces, too, can become spiritually radiant. “Those who look to the Lord are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.” (Psalm 34:5) When you center your life on Christ, His forgiveness removes all shame from your conscience. You may be haunted by needless guilt for having ever done or thought what you did, but you don’t need to live that way. To be forgiven is to be released from the shame that accompanies our guilt. Jesus not only sets us free from the eternal consequences of sin, He also breaks the residual binding power of that cancelled sin in our lives. “It is for (utter) freedom that Christ has set us free.” (Galatians 5:1) Shame no longer needs to affect our countenance.
The best way to have a spiritually radiant face is to spend time with God – declaring His attributes and who He is. As we consider and recount and declare the things of God, we will begin to “Reflect the Lord’s glory, being transformed into His likeness with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 3:18) When you give yourself to pursue and perceive God, your face will reflect (and radiate) His glory. The light of your face will not simply be a reflection of His glory from outside you, it will also radiate from His life within you.
Can you take a moment right now to simply be with God? Declare you believe in Him – in the name of Jesus – and simply be still with him. Allow His presence to wash over you, and His light to radiate from within you. (You don’t have to scrub your face or get pregnant.)
Reflecting His Glory with you,
Pastor Tom
tgriffith@rolcboston.org
