“For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ."
- 2 Corinthians 4:5-6 -

There are 42 individual muscles in the human face, enabling a hugely meaningful range of emotions to be expressed. This is not true of any other creature. We can only imagine the face of Christ, but we can be absolutely sure that it expresses the fullness of God’s love, God’s glory, God’s beauty, and God’s holiness toward us. It suffuses us with light and banishes the darkness. In turn, this requires of those whom God calls that they renounce any forms of duplicity or distortion or shameful ways, most especially for those who are to be representatives of the ways of God, as Paul was (v 1).

Whatever our calling, transparency is always the best policy. As God’s light shines through the risen Lord, so his light should shine through us, that people might catch a glimpse of the King. Jesus daringly told his disciples, ‘You are the light of the world.’ We are agents of the one who is the very Light of the World.

Prayer: Gracious Lord, enable me to put on the belt of sincerity (Ephesians 6:14). Let there be no duplicity in me.