Topic: Matthew 5:13-16
"And those who are wise - the people of God - shall shine as brightly as the sun's brilliance, and those who turn many to righteousness will glitter like stars forever" (Daniel 12:3).
Did it ever occur to you that as a child of God you are to radiate in your countenance the beauty and glory of God? Have you ever considered the inconsistency of having a glum expression while professing that the Son of God, the light of the world, dwells within you?
Proverbs 15:13 reminds us that a happy face means a glad heart; a sad face means a breaking heart.
When missionary Adoniram Judson was home on furlough many years ago, he passed through the city of Stonington, Connecticut. A young boy, playing about the wharves at the time of Judson's arrival, was struck by the missionary's appearance. He had never before seen such a light on a man's face.
Curious, he ran up the street to a ministers's home to ask if he knew who the stranger was. Following the boy back, the minister became so engaged in conversation with Judson that he forgot all about the lad standing nearby.
Many years later that boy - unable to get away from the influence of what he had seen on the man's face - became the famous preacher, Henry Clay Trumbull. One chapter in his book of memoirs is entitled, "What a Boy Saw in the Face of Adoniram Judson."
A shining face - radiant with the love and joy of Jesus Christ - had changed a life. Just as the flowers thrive when they bend towards the light of the sun, so the shining, radiant faces are the result of those who concentrate their gaze upon the Lord Jesus Christ.
May we never underestimate the power of a glowing face that stems from time spent with God. Even as Moses' countenance shone, may your face and mine reveal time spent alone with God and in His Word.
I will spend sufficient time with the Lord each day to insure a radiant countenance for the glory of God and as a witness to those with whom I have contact each day.
