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MEDITATION:

Written by Davis Carman, a contemporary speaker and author. He is also President of Apologia Educational Ministries.

The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Son of God (John 16:14). Jesus deserves that glory, and indeed, at the final meal with His disciples, Jesus prayed, “Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you” (John 17:1). But what does this glory look like? In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word for glory comes from the same root word for “weighty” or “heavy.” In the New Testament, the meaning of the original Greek is more about radiance and brightness. Ultimately, to glorify means “to make much of something.” We see the glory of God depicted throughout Scripture: on Mount Sinai, the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire (Exodus 24:16); God said that the tabernacle would be sanctified by His glory (Exodus 29:43); as God’s glory passed by Moses, God covered him with His hand such that Moses could only see His back (Exodus 33:18-23), and the priests could not stand up because of the glory of the Lord filled the house of God (2 Chronicles 5:14). The Holy Spirit points us back to Jesus with good reason. Too often, other “good” things and the not-so-good things of this world compete with Christ for our affections. Cheap glory substitutes are offered to us every day. And when we allow someone or something to edge Christ out of His rightful place at the center of our lives, we have entered into idolatry. As we see in 2 Chronicles 7:1-3, glory first awakens awe and awe then unleashes worship. But our awe should always be driven by our relationship with God (vertical) and never by the relationships we have with His creation (horizontal).  When was the last time you stopped and considered the glory of God? What other persons or things compete for the affection of your heart? Can you think of a time when glory led you to experience awe, which led you to worship God?

PRAYER:

From the Mozarabic Rite, a liturgical rite of the Latin Church once used generally in the Iberian Peninsula (Hispania), in what is now Spain and Portugal.  Developed during Visigoth (Arian Christian) rule of the Iberian peninsula in the 500s AD.

O God,

Son of God,

so loving, yet hated,

so patient, yet assaulted and killed,

you showed yourself gentle and merciful

even to your persecutors.

You have atoned for our sins

through the wounds of your Passion.

As you humbled yourself and suffered death for us,

now, in your glory,

shine on us with the eternal brightness of your grace.