I have non-electric clock next to my bed. One of those big round ones with an easy to read face, with the two chimes on top that look like mushroomed ears. It has a cute little hammer positioned so carefully between the chimes…and two pointy little feet in front, reaching downward like roots of a sapling. When ready to tell me it is 5:30 AM the hammer wildly races back and forth to awaken me with the most insistent clatter.
My husband hates it. He asked me “Why not use the electric alarm clock gathering dust on the table in the spare room?”
Why not indeed? Because, as old fashioned as it is, it is more persistent than a clock with a snooze bar that I will smack over and over and….yawn, snuggle, snore. Hmmm, I have to confess, I have turned my big face clock off and promptly gone back to sleep. So, why not use the newfangled but boring electric clock? I guess I love the feeling of nostalgia that I experience when I set it every night. Grandparents and parents had clocks such as mine on their bedroom nightstands.
On the hands of this clock are light absorbing reflectors that glow in the dark so you can see and know what time it is in the middle of the night. These reflectors require that some light shine on them in order to absorb light for them to glow. Sadly, because not much sun gets into my bedroom during the day, they are not getting enough sunlight to “fill them up” and make them glow so to speak. Every night, I have to hold the clock up to the lighted bulb of my lamp on my nightstand for a few minutes for the glow to happen…only to repeat the process the next night because the glow has faded.
Last night while I was holding the clock up to my nightstand lamp to rekindle the glow, I thought of Moses during the 2nd mountain top experience (40 days) with God and the Ten Commandments. (Exo. 34:29-35) Moses’ face shone because he was speaking and spending time with God. The Glory and Radiance of God was absorbed by Moses’ face…much like the hands on my clock.
Moses must have “glowed” because when the people saw him, they were so frightened, he would wear a veil to cover his face when he was with them. They were frightened because it was a visual manifestation of God to them. They were uncomfortable in the glow of God…to close for comfort for some…while others were drawn to it.
Just like the hands on my clock, Moses’ glow from God faded. (2 Cor 3:7) The radiance of the Ten Commandments faded as men twisted, manipulated, added too and reduced them to nothing but human law and regulations according to their own depraved religious thinking.
A new Light was needed….a new Radiance…one that lasts and never fades.
Jesus Christ is that Light. “I Am the Light of the World” is what Jesus said of Himself. (John 8:12, 9:5)
The glow or light of Jesus Christ never fades…never needs someone to hold Him up to anything for His Light to be rekindled.
I spend time with the Lord because I want His light to shine in my life. When I hold my face to the light of His Word, I hope that my hands, heart, soul and mind absorb His radiance, His love, His countenance and His holiness. I am like the clock though….I need that daily lifting my face to the Light…so His love will never fade from my face. May all who pass my way, whether for a brief moment or a lifetime see Jesus…the glow of Him who loves like no other and who has commanded His followers to love as such.
Jesus said, "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
Jesus said this to all who believe…to me…to you. I know I shine or glow with the light and radiance of Christ because His Word tells me as a true Follower of Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit…that my face can shine with His glow and I never have to wear a veil.
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