Face to Face
I love going to a zoo, watching all the different animals doing weird and fun things. I especially love seeing the different birds, cause I am a nerdy old man trapped in a 32-year-old body! At the St. Louis zoo, there is a whole building devoted to different birds, most of which are in exhibits behind glass or some other type of barrier. However, there is one section that is a large open-air enclosure with the birds walking freely amongst you, and I love it! The joy I get from being able to share the same space as these beautiful creatures God created, and to feel that you can just reach out and hold them (which you shouldn’t do), is just incredible. I love the birds behind the glass, the eagles and owls, but there’s just something special about that barrier being removed.
Isaac Watts, a famous poet and songwriter who penned well-known songs such as “Joy to the World”, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”, and “O God, Our Help in Ages Past,” wrote hundreds of poems, most of which are unknown to us. I recently read some of his lesser-known poems and was moved by these words:
I love the windows of thy grace,
Through which my Lord is seen,
And long to meet my Savior's face
Without a glass between.
Oh that the happy hour were come
To change my faith to sight!
I shall behold my Lord at home
In a diviner light.
Haste, my Beloved, and remove
These interposing days;
Then shall my passions all be love,
And all my powers be praise.
You and I, currently burdened with human flesh, must wait to be in the glory of God in the holiest of places, heaven, until Christ returns or He calls us home through death. Until that day comes, we enjoy glimpses of God and His goodness through His creation and His church; however, we never get to fully experience the presence of God. But there is coming a time when you and I will dwell in the presence of God.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” - Revelation 21:3-4
What a day that will be when I get to “meet my Savior's face without a glass between.” What a day it will be when we get to experience the full glory of God, in His presence for all eternity, praising Him at the foot of His throne. What a day that will be when “I shall behold my Lord at home in a diviner light.” I long for that day, and I am sure that you long for that day as well, but until that day comes, may we seek after Him in all things. May we praise Him for His wondrous works! May we serve Him as we serve the least of these.
Love you and mean it!
