RADIANT CHRIST

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

 

“Have you ever looked at a green field and thought how bright the sparkling dewdrops are? Did you ever then turn your eye on the sun and look at it and try to stare it out of brightness? If you have, I know what has happened, for when you looked down upon the landscape again, you could not see it. You seemed to have lost your eyesight, the eye having been put out by the brightness on which it gazed. So you may look on the world of sin and see some beauty in it till you look at HIM, and then the brightness of His glory puts out your eye. The world is dark and black after that, and you wish it so to be. Let these eyes be forever sightless as the eyes of night, and let these ears be forever deaf as silence, rather than sin should have a charm for me or anything should take up my spirit save the Lord of love, who bled Himself to death that He might redeem me.”
Charles Haddon Spurgeon

 

Now for our story…

 

Sam gets up from the couch and answers the phone that’s ringing.

 

“Hello.”

 

“Hi Sam.”

 

“Hi Brandy, you all ready to move in.”

 

“Sure. I’ve got to run home and finish some packing. Should take about an hour or so. Then I’ll call you and you can come over and help me load up my boxes. I can’t wait. It’ll be so neat just the two of us together all the time.”

 

“Yeah, I can’t wait either. Call me when you’re ready.”

 

“Sure thing.”

 

Sam places the phone down and goes back to the couch.

 

He hoped he was doing the right thing. He and Brandy had been dating for over six months now. They had gotten very close and they both knew they were in love. They had made the decision that they should live together. Brandy had no problem with the idea at all. He on the other hand had some reservations.

 

He loved her dearly but he had been raised in a Christian home and had gone to church most of his life. He knew that according to the Bible what he and Brandy were planning was probably not right. He had accepted Christ as his Savior in Jr. High and had really gotten close to Jesus during his high school years.

 

His thoughts went back to his high school days when he and his youth pastor had met often for discipleship studies. He looked up to Mark and greatly respected him. He knew he was a man of God. He had shared all sorts of issues he had in his life with Mark and Mark had consistently shown him what the Bible had to say about them. He wished Mark were here now. After high school graduation he seemed to drift further and further away from his relationship with Jesus. He eventually stopped going to church.

 

He met Brandy at work and they hit it off immediately. They loved being together. While he knew it was wrong for them to live together he just didn’t know how to say no. What could be wrong with something that felt so good?

 

Sam got up from the couch and began to pace back and forth across the living room floor.

 

Why was this bothering him so much?

 

Sam glanced over at the shelves of books in the corner of the living room.

 

He spotted his Bible that he hadn’t opened for years. He walked over slipped it from the shelf and opened it. He flipped the pages having no idea what he was looking for other than some answer for his current situation. He looked up at the ceiling, closed his eyes and whispered, “God?”

 

He opened his eyes. No answer. He glanced back down at his Bible. It was open to the book of Hebrews chapter one. He began reading. When he read verse three a tear formed in his eye. He felt something in him stir. He sensed God very close to him as if He was trying to say something. Another tear ran down from his other eye as he began to think of Jesus and who He was. Tears sprinkled down upon the thin pages of his Bible as he thought of what Jesus had done for him. Memories of his teenage years began to float into his mind and he remembered some of the things that Mark had taught him. He began to feel the passion he had once for spiritual things. It was as if a brilliant light had flashed before him, so intense that he could not keep from looking at it and could see nothing else except its brightness.

 

Sam gets down on his knees and lays the Bible in front of him.

 

“Father God. I’m sorry I’ve been away from you so long. I don’t understand why you would want me back, but somehow I know you do. Please take me and forgive me for all that I have done since I’ve been away. I want Christ in my life again. I want to live for you. Thank you for your forgiveness and for your love. Give me the strength to do what I have to do now. Help me be strong but loving. Help me be clear in what I have to say to Brandy. Help her understand.”

 

Sam gets up off his knees, wipes his eyes, picks up the phone and dials Brandy’s number.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Brandy.”

 

“Yeah. What are ya doing calling. I’ve still got about five more boxes to pack. I was going to call you remember.”

 

“Yeah, I know, but I have to talk to you about something.”

 

“Can’t it wait?”

 

“No, it’s important.

 

“Well what is it? I have to finish packing.”

 

“Well Brandy. It’s about us living together.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Well I don’t think we should.”

 

“What! What’s wrong? What’s happened? Is there someone else?”

 

“Well in a way.”

 

“It’s Susan isn’t it? I saw her flirting with you at the café the other day.”

 

“No, no it’s not Susan. It’s Jesus.”

 

“Jesus?”

 

“Yes. It’s been bothering me about us living together without being married and I couldn’t put my finger on why.”

 

“So you don’t love me?”

 

“No, I love you very much. I thought I wanted us to live together but I just couldn’t shake this feeling that something was wrong. I’ve been doing some soul searching and I want the best for us. When I think how good we are together I want us to do this the right way. I feel that God is telling me to do what Jesus would want me to do.”

 

“What’s that?”

 

“I think that Jesus wants us to love one another. I think He wants us to be together, forever. I think Jesus wants us to respect Him and ourselves by not moving in together until we’re married. I really think He wants us to learn more about Him and how He can help us be the best for each other.”

 

“Well, I’m disappointed, but I’ve been having similar feelings. I accepted Jesus a long time ago and know what He stands for. I was feeling a little guilty. I just didn’t want to say anything. I respect you and felt if you thought it was okay to move in, that it was the right thing to do. I guess God’s been working on both of us.”

 

“So you understand?”

 

“Yeah, I guess so. I’m not sure I feel as strong as you do about it, but if you feel that God’s telling you we shouldn’t I would never argue with God.”

 

A tear trickles out of each of their eyes.

 

“Why don’t you come over and help me unpack and we can talk some more about this?”

 

“Sure thing. I’ll be right over. I’m going to bring my Bible with me too. I want to show you this amazing verse.”

 

Hebrews 1:3

“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”