At 32, I’m beginning to feel the old adage of you are what you eat. As a teenager, I could eat whatever I wanted at any time of the day with next to no consequences. This is no longer so in my early 30s. The short-term and long-term consequences of my diet are obvious and unavoidable. This past week, the Lord has been impressing an important reality upon my heart: you are what you behold. To put it another way, you become what you choose to behold. If you choose to constantly behold morally bankrupt and worldly entertainment, you will become morally bankrupt and worldly. If you give yourself over to mindless scrolling on social media and beholding posts that are empty of value, you will become a mindless individual who has little capacity for critical thinking. If you choose to behold pornography, you will become a miserable slave to your lusts and appetites.
In 2 Corinthians 3-4, the apostle Paul implores you to behold the glory of Christ so that you can become more like Him. If you know and love Jesus, a spiritual veil has been lifted from your eyes by the Holy Spirit and you now have the ability to see Jesus as awesome, mighty, and glorious. Paul writes, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit,” (2 Corinthians 3:18). Please, don’t miss the beauty of this verse. If you choose to behold the glory of who Christ is, what He has done, and what He continues to do, you will slowly but surely be transformed into His image. Day by day and inch by inch, you will become more and more like Him. You will set your mind on the lasting things of heaven instead of being consumed by the fading things of earth (Colossians 3:1-2). You will put off the old self and continually put on the new self (Colossians 3:5-17). You will grow in your desire and ability to love as He loves, to hate what He hates, and to serve as He serves.
You may be thinking, “This sounds fantastic…but what does it mean to behold Jesus and how can I do this on a daily basis?” In this life, we behold Jesus by faith and in eternity we will behold Him by sight. One day all our hopes will become reality and our faith will become sight. The apostle John promises us that “we shall be like Him (Jesus) because we shall see Him as He is,” (1 John 3:2). Try to wrap your mind around this truth. One day you will see Christ as you can see a friend, a family member, a neighbor, your kids, or your spouse. Seeing Him in His full and unadulterated glory will forever and perfectly change you into His likeness. Until then, we must behold Jesus through the eyes of faith. We must behold Him by focusing our minds and hearts upon the gospel and the truths of God’s Word. You will not become more like Jesus if you fail to behold Him in His Word. Beholding Him in the Word doesn’t just involve reading the words on the page but mediating and reflecting upon them as well. This involves memorizing Scripture and digging these truths into the fertile soil of your soul. This involves putting His Word into action. Beholding Christ is a holistic activity that involves your head, your heart, and your hands.
Maybe you’re reading this and your love and affection for Christ has dwindled in recent weeks, months, or maybe even years. Bible study and prayer have become lifeless tasks that don’t excite you as they once did. Church has become a legalistic routine instead of a life giving time of worship, learning, and fellowship. The fire that once burned so brightly is now a fading wick on the verge of blowing out. The only solution is to get on your knees and ask the Lord to fix your eyes upon the Savior and His infinite glory. Hundreds of years ago, the famous pastor and theologian, John Owen, had this to say in his amazing book, The Glory of Christ, “Do any of us find decays in grace prevailing in us; deadness, coldness, lukewarmness, a kind of spiritual stupidity and senselessness coming upon us? Do we find an unreadiness unto the exercise of grace in its proper season, and the vigorous acting of it in duties of communion with God, and would we have our souls recovered from these dangerous diseases? Let us assure ourselves there is no better way for our healing and deliverance, yea, no other way but this alone, -- namely, the obtaining a fresh view of the glory of Christ by faith, and a steady abiding therein. Constant contemplation of Christ and his glory, putting forth its transforming power unto the revival of all grace, is the only relief in this case." Brothers and sisters, look unto Jesus day in and day out. There is no better view in this world or any other. There is no other view that is eternally transforming.
