Have you ever wanted to see God?
Surely that is what Moses desired in Exodus 33. Even after he had conversed with God, he wanted nothing more than to just see God and all His glory. With great fervency he asked, “Please, show me your glory!” God patiently replied, “You shall not see my face, for man shall not see my face and live.”
Because of God’s holiness and our sinfulness, we could not withstand the sight of God’s perfection. The Bible says “No one has ever seen God,” But we are not left hopeless. The passage in 1 John 4:12 goes on to say, “If we love one another, God abides in us and His love is perfected in us.”
Though we may not see God’s physical presence in this life, we can see the manifestation of Him through the love we share with others – this is the tangible outplaying of His presence in our lives this side of heaven. John’s point is that we must be quick to love others and by doing so we will experience a glimpse of glory for ourselves.
We know that “God is love,” so when we live out this love we will experience the very one we long to see. If we do not have love, John warns that we will not have love for God or God’s love in our lives. A few verses later in 1 John 4:20 it says, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.”
The walk-away for us is that we must be intentional to express love to others (those we can see) so that we will have deeper love for and from God (whom we cannot see). What can you do today to show love to someone? I am not talking about some gushy, romantic, sappy love. I mean the biblical kind of love that is selfless and able to impact a life because you went out of your way to meet someone else’s needs above your own. What is that practical thing you can do today?
Loving people is not easy. Asking people to love others, people you dont know is hard. Doing good things for them is easier, but truly loving them with a “genuineness” is something not easy but to be gifted with, which can only come from God. I think or Know that God has given everyone this gift, its just about those of us wanting to receive it. Why wouldnt some people not want this gift? It means work, it means responsibility, it means not turning a blind eye to what happening around us. I feel the same. I feel I was once one of these people who didnt want this gift, in this day and age loving others means time and time is almost equal value or more valuable then currency in this day and age. However i have learnt that if you show your love by helping others continously without the emotion of actually feeling love but just showing you care, over time a genuineness starts to break into your being, without you knowing you dont realise that your acts of love , has changed to more of you doing things for others because you love. Love doesnt have to be an emotion, love can be anything that brings good to yourself or others through acts,words,services,gifts or time, or anything you want it to be. If anything you do is good for someone else no matter how big or small It is, then thats love.