Isaiah 33:17 – Your eyes will behold the King in His beauty . . .
THEME OF THE DAY. BEHOLDING JESUS CHRIST. Here are three things I want us to do with today’s nugget. First, stop thinking about all that we must do today; the responsibilities, tasks, demands and their associated anxieties, worries, and stresses. Step back and engage our whole being on the Word and what the Lord may want to reveal to us. It is easy to have a “mindless” Christianity to include “mindless” devotional times of reading, but not pondering or meditating. I know way too many times of reading my Bible but my heart and mind were already in my day thinking about all I had to do. Resist that temptation this morning, especially right now.
The next thing to do with today’s nugget is think about our relationship with Jesus Christ. Go slow here. I am asking us to evaluate our understanding of what it means to be a Christian and that isn’t determined by our lifestyle, our church attendance, not even our doing Christian things. The true measurement of our Christianity is determined by the answer to the question, “Are we growing in the grace and knowledge of Christ and intimacy with Christ through diligent seeking of Him through His Word and prayer?” And we must answer this thoroughly and transparently. If we are Christians, Christ is our all and all as well as the chief pursuit and affection in this life. Christians are a people called to be consumed with Christ. They are to be enamored by Him. They are to hunger for Him with passion. They are to be overwhelmed by His beauty. They are to have lives controlled by His love and will. Simply put, Christians are to be obsessed with Christ and it will show in every area of their lives. If that isn’t true of us, we are Christians in name only.
The final thing to do in reading this nugget is to think on seeing Jesus Christ face-to-face or ponder today’s scripture – “Your eyes will behold the King in His beauty”. Please, don’t leave this scene quickly. Stay here for a while. Let our hearts meditate on this Day of all Days. We are going to see the King. Literally. You and I are going to meet the Lord, one-on-one, eye-to-eye. David Harsha wrote, “Contemplate your blessed Redeemer, seated on His great white throne, encircled with heavenly glory. It is the sight of a glorified Savior, that will make the Heaven of the believer.” Yet, let’s be careful not to keep this only in our mind’s eye toward the future. The Christian life, the healthy Christian life, is lived “seeing” Christ now by faith through His Word, prayer, and His church. Harsha continues, “Endeavor now, by the eye of faith, to behold the Lord Jesus in all His matchless beauty and excellence. Contemplate His glorious character, His infinite mercy, His unparalleled condescension, and His boundless love! There is enough in Jesus to employ the soul in rapturous meditation through a vast eternity! His excellence, His goodness, and His love can never be fathomed!”
The ramifications of meditating on our understanding of what it means to be a Christian, how much does Christ directs our lives, and the certainty of seeing Him any day, are significant. It will simply make us radical for Jesus or actually, it will make us Biblical Christians as defined by the New Testament. But here is a word of encouragement. I know what I am asking may easily discourage us as we see how far short we may fall in this evaluation. Remember, God desires for us to be consumed with His Son. He not only desires it, but will help us be consumed with Him. The Apostle James writes, “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8). Christ’s Father, our Father has given us His Word, His Spirit, prayer, and the church for the purpose of beholding His Son, the Lord Jesus. He has done His part. Now it is up to us to do our part; decide and then discipline ourselves to behold the Son; pursuing and living out Biblical Christianity which is “Christ in us, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).
PRAYER: “Father, I so praise You for giving me to Your Son as a gift of grace.”
QUOTE: “Think on seeing Christ any day and watch how it radically changes how we live each day”