Created for glory

I sat in unmoving reverie this a.m, as the eyes of little children gazed, giggled, and smiled into mine. Music swelled and soothed as we recalled again the eternal One's entrance into time, and His condescention in donning the flesh of those He came to save.

A beautiful bronze baby found himself on the lap of Mary, and as the silence filtered in the sound, I was struck by the stillness of the magi, whose upraised hands beckoned to the posture of my soul. Their faces were softened with the goodness they were savoring, and in that divine wedding of the natural to the spiritual, our hearts soared upwards into the light of His presence.

My mind darted to its memory, and at once I recalled standing atop a glorious summit over the Pacific. Great emerald parrots perched in the foreground of the landscape as the most illustrious sunrise filled the sky. I remember sitting with tear-stained cheeks as I perceived all of the concerted warmth therein; a heat that could only partially thaw my heart, for I knew nothing of its Source. With every strain of my senses, I sought to gulp of the glory beheld, and with bowed head, I languished with angst and sorrow.

The suicide of my friend had left me grappling with eternity, and as I perceived the immensity that spanned the breadth of the earth, it seemed but a foxhole compared to the chasm then fixed between myself and my Maker.

Dear reader, I write this because you were created for more--you were created for glory. This world was never meant to be your home; its pleasures are not your salvation, and there is nothing in them with power enough to satisfy you; they were given to point you to their Giver. You have been given senses, that when submitted for their design, are meant to please you, and magnify the One for whom you were made. You were not made for yourself, and this world holds nothing that can permanently satisfy your eternal soul. You were crafted to reflect and adore your Designer, and your chief joy was to know Him who made you--who loved you, and endowed you with gifts with which to bless others, to enjoy Him, and to make His goodness evident to all men. Ephesians 2:4-5.

For those who are regularly accustomed to seeing and savoring Jesus, I invite you to reconsider your knowing of Him, and the degree to which He inhabits your heart. See Him, know Him, experience Him and the pleasures found in His right hand (ps. 16).

For those who know of Jesus in a manger, Jesus as a teacher, or Jesus as a good man, I invite you to consider Jesus as the One through whom you have gained your being. John 1:3 says, "All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. 4In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men." I pray as you read this, that you might consider Jesus, and the hole that remains unfilled residing in the center of your chest. No one knows you like your Maker.