Read or listen to today's devotion at http://odb.org
Bible reading: 2 Corinthians 3:7-18
You've probably heard the expression, "Get over yourself." While that may be good advice for the egomaniacs among us, today's lesson shows us how we can "get beyond ourselves."
What a wonderful offer Paul makes in today's scripture: the more we look upon Jesus, His life and teachings, and open ourselves up to His Spirit, the more we reflect His glory.
The term "glory" has a beautiful history from the time when the Israelites were wandering in the desert and Moses was speaking with God. After being in God's presence, Moses' face shone brightly with God's reflected glory. His face was so bright that the people demanded that Moses wear a veil over his face. This glory or presence of God became to be known as "Shekhinah," a Hebrew word, a grammatically feminine form meaning "dwelling" or "settling" in which the presence of God came to rest in the Jewish tabernacle and later the Temple in Jerusalem.
This is the same word used in today's Bible reading. This same Shekhinah can be ours as we reflect Christ's glory.
How could we turn down such an offer? Who wouldn't want to trade their broken, sad, sinful image for the glorious image of Christ? We can go beyond our pettiness, beyond our fear, beyond our jealousy, beyond our greed, beyond our pride, beyond our weakness, beyond our loneliness, beyond our lovelessness to claim the actual Shekhinah or Glory of God. We can then begin producing the fruits of the Spirit as listed in Galatians 5:22-23: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control.
Are you ready today to remove the veil of sin and trade your dull image for the Shikhinah of Christ?
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