On Christmas Day, I made the mistake of getting on Facebook before bed only to find a wealth of hatred, self-righteousness, and propaganda that does not belong on Facebook any time but especially on Christmas Day. It was another regret-filled trip in line with plenty of others that have worn me down.
The world is getting more and more chaotic. Whether overseas or under my nose, the tension feels higher every day. We need a miracle. We need something drastic, and we need it fast.
This is how I found myself sitting in front of an open Bible wondering what I could possibly do. I landed at Exodus 19, in which the people of Israel are being prepared for God to come down on Mt. Sinai and deliver the Ten Commandments, and was struck by how serious the preparations were for this moment. God required that the people be consecrated and washed. They could not come up to the mountain and touch it or risk being struck dead; only Moses could approach. God’s glory was about to be revealed to the people, no barriers, face to face, and they needed to be ready.
Everything came together in my mind as I read. The people needed to be prepared, because when they encountered God’s full glory, the trajectory of their lives was going to be drastically altered. God’s glory meant the giving of the Law, the beginning of Israel’s journey to becoming a nation, the consecration of God’s people for a specific purpose.
Nothing would be the same again.
In that moment of reflection, I decided to assign myself the word “glory” for the new year. People need a lot of things right now: peace, healing, a good dose of common sense, and so on. But what I think we need more than anything is to see God’s glory revealed. When that happens, it forces change. God’s glory brings the healing and restoration we so desperately need. It convicts us of wrongdoing, passes judgement on those who have refused to repent, and presents us with a fresh start. The peace, the miracles, the common sense that we need are all wrapped up in the impact of encountering God’s glory.
This is my prayer: that the presence of God would shake and humble us into a refocused way of living, into lives of obedience. I pray that my own heart would be a reflector of God’s glory, that I may have some small part to play in His redemptive work. As I spend the next three weeks sharing my conclusions on the big issues of the year, I pray that everything will travel through this lens, that only the presence and glory of God can save us.
The Scripture is clear that God will be glorified; that is His nature. Like Israel, we need to get ready.
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