Our Bible verse for today: “We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18 (CSB)
Our thought for today: “This is why we contemplate His love”
Monday’s are typically my day off. Sunday’s are the busiest day of the week for me and by Monday I’m ready for a day off. I even have a special Monday morning routine I observe that includes sleeping a little later than usual, using devotional literature that is reserved only for Mondays, and having my quiet time with the Lord in a special Monday morning location. During the warmer months that’s out on the back porch. During the cooler months, like now, that location is in the living room next to the fireplace in a recliner that I only sit in on Monday’s. Other family members sit in that chair at other times throughout the week, but I only sit there on Monday mornings when it’s cold enough for a fire in the fireplace. For me it’s a special time in a special location when I can just be with God as I contemplate, relax and reflect.
Yesterday I was there in that chair, in front of the fire, with my Monday morning devotional materials, and I came across a profound insight from the Chinese writer Hwee Hwee Tan. She was commenting on Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 3:18 and she observed, “We become what we contemplate.” That’s exactly what Paul was teaching in that verse. As we gaze steadily and intently upon the glory of Jesus, we slowly become transformed into an image of Him. That’s the story of the Christian life. That’s our journey. It’s the process of sanctification that slowly and steadily makes us more and more like Him. As we gaze upon Him, contemplating Him, studying Him, striving to be like Him, we begin to look more and more like the image we’ve been gazing upon. We become what we contemplate.
And that’s why we’re spending so much time studying and contemplating the love of God. We’re considering it from every angle. We’re carefully exploring all the different aspects of it. We’ve considered what love is, how it is defined, how we can best embrace and experience God’s love, and how we can share it with others. Over the course of two months of devotional messages we are turning the subject upside down and inside out, considering it from every possible angle, gazing at it intently. Why? Because we become what we contemplate. The more time we spend gazing at, contemplating, and experiencing the love of God, the more it will come to define who we are. As we look into that mirror Paul writes about, we first see the love of God looking back at us, but soon it begins to become our image too.
This is why we contemplate His love – so that little by little, progressively, it will become our image too.
Oak Hill Baptist Church