How can we tell when a young man or woman is in love? One way is by the look on their face. A person in love will often radiate that feeling through their face. When we have been with the one we love, it shows on our face, in our speech, and in the way we act. When things are happy at home, often our co-workers or friends can tell without our actually telling so. The same would go if things are unhappy, as well. In our Scripture passage today from the Old Testament Book of Exodus, we read of the effects of Moses being close to, and in the presence of the One that he loved.
As our Scripture passage begins, Moses has been alone on Mt. Sinai for 40 days, meeting personally with Yahweh, where he has been given the Law personally from His hand. After 40 days of prayer, fasting, and being with the Lord God, Moses descends from the mountain, returning to the people of Israel, who have been encamped and waiting at the base of the mountain. When Moses rejoined the people there was one thing that they saw, something that Moses was unaware of, and that was that his face was shining (vs. 29). This scared the people, and he had to resort to wearing a veil to hide his face. Every time that Moses would go to be alone with Yahweh he took the veil off. When he was with the people, though, he put the veil back on (vs. 34-35).
What makes our faces shine? When we spend time doing what we enjoy, perhaps a sports activity or our favorite hobby, we are more relaxed and happy. We are then more pleasant to be around. Can our family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers tell that we have been with the Lord? After we’ve spent time with God in prayer and reading of His Word, is our countenance radiating from that time with Him? Our face won’t literally shine, but God’s love, joy, and peace will just be overflowing out of us, that it will be overwhelmingly evident to all who see us, and are with us, that we spend time with the Lord.
On any given Sunday morning, we should take a look at the faces of those in our church service, or look at the faces of the people as they exit the service. Do they reflect a glory from having spent time in God’s presence? Or, if I may borrow a phrase of a former pastor of mine, now deceased, do they look more like they have been weaned on a pickle? The time we spend with Jesus should make a difference in our personality. His sweet and loving nature should rub off on us, making us more like Him, and eliminating a lot of that prickly and cantankerous temperament.
Shining with the love, joy, and peace of the Lord is not something that we can generate from ourselves on our own. We are reflecting God’s glory. We do not shine with our own glory. We are like the moon. The moon reflects the sun’s light. It does not generate light on its own. Moses did not generate the shine from his face on his own. It came from being with the Lord.
How meaningful is my time with the Lord? Do I hurry through my prayers, hurry through my Bible reading, so I can get on to other things? When I am in church, is my mind a million miles away during the sermon or while worshipping? Moses willingly spent 40 days on the mountain with God. He didn’t complain to the Lord that he was tired and hungry, and that he wanted to get back down the mountain to be with his friends. His time with Yahweh was so wonderful that Moses just glowed because of it! Let’s be sure that we spend quality time with the Lord each day, and that we try not to leave our home until we shine with His presence!
Always enjoy your posts.
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