Proverbs 8-9 2 Corinthians 3

“Our faces, then, are not covered. We all show the Lord’s glory, and we are being changed to be like him. This change in us brings ever greater glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18 NCV)

During the days of Moses, he spent time with God. When he finished, the Israelites saw him, and his face was glowing because of the encounter. Moses then put a veil over his face. For the longest time, I thought he did that so that the Israelites wouldn’t keep seeing the glow. Paul told us that he did that to hide the fact that the glow from his meeting with God was fading. He contrasted that picture with the Christian and their experience with God. We don’t hide our faces because the Lord’s glory is fading; our faces are uncovered because we have the Spirit living inside of us and He’s changing us from the inside to be like Jesus. The glory doesn’t fade because our lives should shine as the Spirit works in our hearts all the time.

This power we have from God, this freedom, should radiate out of our lives. The old joke about Baptists: “Why is it Baptists never smile? They know that someone, somewhere is having fun and they don’t like it,” shouldn’t describe us at all. Our lives should radiate the joy of our relationship we have with God. That doesn’t mean that we’ll always have good times. That doesn’t mean that troubles will never attack. What it means is that no matter what happens in our lives, our face should radiate the joy that God gives in all circumstances. It may take a while, sometimes. It doesn’t mean that we’ll always be smiling. What it means is that people will look through our tears and see the power of our relationship with God in the worst of times or look past the laughter and see that we’re refreshed by our joy in the Lord in the best of times. The one thing that makes Christians different from all other people is our relationship with God. Our lives should reflect that relationship in the best of times and the worst of times. They should recognize God’s presence in our joy, and recognize that we don’t grieve as others do in our sorrow. So, stay spirit-filled my friends.

Lord, remind me that in the battles of the temporal, I have the strength of my eternal life with You. Let me be so close to You every day that people will experience my eternal joy in any situation. Give me the words to share Your love and grace with those who need to hear.

Scripture taken from the New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.