Change: Connecting With Our EssenceNäide

The message that Moses brought with the law, in essence, was to lead us to the conclusion that we were all sinners because we could not fulfill it entirely, which separated us from God. Therefore, we needed a savior to take us from the separation of death to the communion of life with God.

Yesterday, we saw that there could be no change if we anchored ourselves to look from the past and that wanting to change others in our image and likeness only brings pain.

Today, we see another obstacle to overcome: Getting stuck at the starting point.

Interestingly, Christians pray for the Jewish people so that they can embrace the path of redemption and reconciliation through Jesus. Still, we often stop walking that path because of our self-rejection, guilt, or sadness.

Moses had a veil that at first hid the brightness of a face that had spoken to God, but the text says that this brightness was perishable. Paul uses that metaphor to show that there is a veil that prevents non-Christians from seeing Jesus, the Savior who can fulfill the law in himself and redeem humanity.

However, when we Christians get stuck at the starting point and don't connect with God to change, it's as if we have a veil where sadness and pain for failing Him instead of leading us to embrace forgiveness and show the glory of a redeemed life, leads us to hide from God. To plunge us into a life of guilt and shame that makes us live on appearances.

It is difficult for us to hold the title of "forgiven and redeemed life," and we opt for a "veil" that we call success, religiosity, acceptable moral life, etc. Although in our intimacy, we know that our face has ceased to shine with the presence of God, we feel obliged to present the image of what we "ought to be" to be accepted.

There is a saying that goes, "When the wise man points to the moon, the fool looks at the finger." When we get stuck in the self-rejection of the fall, this can become a tomb where we embrace a distorted image of ourselves or God and are prisoners of the enemy's accusations. But God points us another way.

What do we do when the Holy Spirit reveals our sin to us? Do we deny it? Didn't we confess it to him? Do we rationalize it with comfortable explanations so that living with that which binds us is tolerable? All this, in practice, is ignoring the Savior who has already come and shown us the way to reconciliation and redemption.

May God grant us to be prompted to repent to reconnect with him and thus reflect his eternal glory in a life that shines not through a veil made of appearances but with the uncovered face of a life that knows it has been forgiven.