Holy Monday — The Transfer of Glory
I have revealed Your name to the ones whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have followed Your word. Now they have come to know that everything which You have given Me is from You; for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me. I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but on the behalf of those whom You have given Me, because they are Yours; and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them (John 17:6-10).
Thought
Did you notice that the ‘work’ we do to glorify God is not actually work at all? The words Jesus uses to describe the response of ‘the ones whom you gave me’ are the verbs to ‘know’, ‘receive’, ‘understand’ and ‘believe’. The result is that we follow, but the transformation God seeks is described in terms of a change of mind and heart. Eternal life comes through a knowledge of the triune God.
So how do we know God in this transformational way? Earlier in John we hear Jesus’ command to ‘abide in me’(John 15). We know God by abiding in Him. This includes prayer, study of his word, quiet reflection and worship. The sequence is important. Through Jesus Christ we become knowledgeable about God and about ourselves. God’s glory is revealed to us through His grace and love for us in Jesus Christ. As a result, this love draws us to Him, and as we abide in Him, we are set free to experience the abundant life He came to give us. Abiding in Jesus glorifies God, just as Jesus’ work glorified His Father.
How will we abide in Jesus this week that we might know Him more deeply, receive Him more fully and glorify Him in all we say and do? Will we go Zooming through this week (pun intended), only to arrive on Easter exhausted, hoping for a strong dose of God before heading into the next week? Or will truly make this a Holy Week, setting aside the time to abide in Christ in an intentional, yielded and humble way?
Encouragement for the Day
Set aside, shut off or close down whatever you must in order to focus on Jesus and watch how the time spent in His presence might empower you to glorify God in your life throughout this week.
Prayer
Dear Lord, the world around us is so loud. So much competes for our attention. So many distractions call to us to shift our priorities away from you. Forgive us, heavenly Father, for every place we have allowed the pressures and cares of the world to enter into our life, our work, our family and our church. We humbly come under your gracious hand that we might abide in you this Holy Week. Lead us as faithful stewards to set aside our idols of busyness and control and help us surrender ourselves back to you in a new and deeper way, that you may be glorified in all we say and do. In the name of our gracious and merciful Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
