I’m sure you recall the timeless kid’s song, “This Little Light of Mine.” What a great little diddy. The gist of it being that through the power of Jesus Christ you can be afforded a light to shine for Him. We hear John proclaim in 1 John 1:5 “This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.” A very clear proclamation that God is light. We also see in the third verse of God’s Word that He created light. In fact, throughout God’s Word we see a plethora of references to God, Jesus and the affect of both resulting in pure and perfect light. But today we encounter an example of God and His light that is quite remarkable indeed. Let’s keep the entire passage intact for context:
“ When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai. When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever he entered the Lord’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord.” Exodus 34:29-35
What an unbelievable passage. Let’s talk backstory. Recall that Moses received the first 2 tablets from God but rushed down the mountain to deal with the people that were worshipping the golden calf. In a fiery display of righteous anger, Moses threw the tablets down and they broke. As a result, God had to make more. He told Moses to bring two more blank tablets up the mountain and God Himself would write upon them again. These are the new tablets mentioned here. And as Moses is bringing the new tablets down the mountain to the Israelite nation, he is unaware of the remnant of His latest encounter with God, his face is shining with the radiance and the glory of God.
This encounter has always given me great joy, hope, and praise for the Lord. The simple fact that His glory is so profound and intense that it can “rub off” on us. In fact, for Margie and me, this has been a staple of our prayer time together for years. That the Lord would allow His light to shine through us to all that we encounter. But many might ask, “how do I get this kind of light from God?” Well, Moses was of course in direct contact with God Himself in this story so many might say that it’s impossible to “glow for God” today, but I disagree. You see as Jesus ascended back into Heaven to reign at the right hand of God the Father, He gave the Apostles some great news. Not just great news but world changing news; for them and every other single person that will ever call upon Jesus as their Lord:
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8
You see, you can’t hike up Mount Sinai today and have a physical encounter with God, but folks, you don’t have to. If you have called Jesus your personal Savior, you have the very Spirit of God living right inside of you. Praise God for this amazing gift. So, if you have the Holy Spirit of God living within you, is it not accurate to ascertain that a true encounter with Him can result in you showing His light through your life? Absolutely. We’re told in James 4:2b, “You do not have, because you do not ask.” So, let me ask you this question, when was the last time you prayed and asked God to bless you with the glory of His light? Folks, if you start praying this prayer, God will hear and if He deems appropriate, He will allow your face to glow with His radiant glory. But if you’re glowing for God, there’s a few things you’ll need to prepare for.
1) Watch out how you walk. Ephesians 5:15 warns us, “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise.” If you’re walking around glowing for God, you’d better make sure you’re living for Him in all you do. How you treat all people, how you drive, how you speak, how you work, how you spend your free time, where and how you party, what’s on you Facebook page, how you conduct your relationships. Folks, you are an ambassador for Jesus Christ and if you’re blazing His light to the world, you will be a walking billboard for Him. Live a life that’s worthy of being called a follower of Jesus Christ. Anything that contradicts His life will be seen in your life as hypocritical by the world. As Paul says, “Be careful how you walk.”
2) Be ready to talk about Jesus. If you pray for God’s shining face and He deems you ready to don it, be ready to talk about Him because He’ll give you the opportunity. The great commission tells us that God built us to “go and tell.” You see, if your face is shining with the glory of God, you will be a piercing beacon to a dark world. A lighthouse that attracts. The hope, peace and love of God will draw people to you so you can tell them about Jesus. God will create encounters in the strangest of places as people are drawn to His light. Get ready to tell the world about your light.
3) Be ready to answer “why.” If your face is shining for Jesus, you are going to be very, very different than most in this world, be ready to answer questions. What kind of questions? I have personally been asked...why I’m so happy, why I smile so much, why I don’t get mad, why I’m so nice to people, why I’m different than others and I’ve even had people flat out say, I want whatever you’ve got. Folks, there is not one single special thing about Dan Potter except….Jesus Christ. You see Jesus gives me joy and that’s why I’m happy and I smile. Jesus tells me to love my enemies and shows me how, it’s pointless to get mad at others. Jesus tells me to simply love others in the same way that I want to be loved, and folks, I want people to love me so I’m nice to people and give them the love God first gives me. The result? People don’t see Dan, they see Jesus. They see the glorious light of God shining through this face. What they see and what they want is Jesus.
4) Get ready to have an “off day.” I don’t know if anybody has ever told you this but you’re not perfect. You’re going to make mistakes, you will lose your temper, you will snip at somebody, you will at times encounter a sour mood that plagues you. It’s going to happen. What to do? Pray it away. When this happens to me I take some quiet time, get still and pray over and over and over, “God take it away.” Remember that there is a war raging inside of you every day. The new Holy nature of God versus your old sin nature. The old sin nature is tough as nails and will not simply give up, but God will be victorious as long as you continue to cry out to Him.
Friends, there is absolutely nothing more glorious than praying for God to bless you with His light and then being able to recklessly shine it into a dark world. No matter where His light goes, it will encounter darkness. It will have the ability to shed its life giving illumination to lives that are bathed in black. As Moses would exit that tent and the people would see his face aglow, they knew. They knew that he had been in the very presence of God. That He had been in blessed communion with God. Talking with Him. Hearing His laws and commandments necessary for a joy-filled, peaceful life. Folks, if you’re living this kind of life, the world will see your shining face and they will know. They will know that your life is a life that has been in the very presence of God.
Live a life today that is worthy of carrying the shining glory of God to the world around you. Glow for God.
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