Consider God’s care. “. . . what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?” (Psa. 8:4). The greatness of God extends beyond the Milky Way, the Andromeda galaxy, and a hundred million universes that are tossed into space as mere handfuls of stardust; it extends to man. God thinks of us. He remembers us. He keeps us in his heart and on his lips and in his eyes. Before such overwhelming physical odds and such seemingly endless space and time, God thinks of us and sees us.
Thank God
For all these things we should be thankful.
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Because of God’s name, we should be thankful that we are invited into a relationship with God. When God revealed his name, he made himself known to us. He no longer was a distant deity separated from his creation. He chose to move into the neighbor, take up residence with us, and allow himself to be known. And in being known we take on his name, his character. Like an old printing press that rolled over the characters, imprinting the paper, God has impressed his character, his likeness, onto our very nature. In knowing God we take his name, Christian, and have his character rubbed off on us.
Jim Elliot, the martyred missionary, wrote in his personal journal: “I walked out on the hill just now. It is exalting, delicious, to stand embraced by the shadows of a friendly tree with the wind tugging at your coattail and the heavens hailing your heart, to gaze and glory and give oneself again to God — what more could a man ask? Oh, the fullness, pleasure, sheer excitement of knowing God on earth! I care not if I never raise my voice again for Him, if only I may love Him, please Him . . . If only I may see Him, touch His garments, and smile into His eyes.” Here was a man thankful for his relationship with God. Here was a man who was known by God and knew God. He shared his name and his character.
Are you thankful for your relationship with God? Or has it grown stale and common place? Do you take it for granted?
Because of God’s glory, we should be thankful that he has allowed us to share in his likeness. We don’t possess that glory, we radiate it. Like Moses returning from Mount Sinai whose face was radiant after meeting God, our faces shine like a glow-in-the-dark figure, too. Paul wrote, “But we Christians have no veil over our faces; we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him” (2 Cor. 3:18 LB).
As believers we have been given the awesome privilege and responsibility to reflect God’s glory. A poem given to me by a friend says: “We, like the moon have no light, no energy, no power. Yet, we, like the moon when touched by the Son — cast his brilliance on the blackest of nights.”