Have you ever wanted to see God?
Surely that is what Moses desired in Exodus 33. Even after he had conversed with God, he wanted nothing more than to just see God and all His glory. With great fervency he asked, “Please, show me your glory!” God patiently replied, “You shall not see my face, for man shall not see my face and live.”
Because of God’s holiness and our sinfulness, we could not withstand the sight of God’s perfection. The Bible says “No one has ever seen God,” But we are not left hopeless. The passage in 1 John 4:12 goes on to say, “If we love one another, God abides in us and His love is perfected in us.”
Though we may not see God’s physical presence in this life, we can see the manifestation of Him through the love we share with others – this is the tangible outplaying of His presence in our lives this side of heaven. John’s point is that we must be quick to love others and by doing so we will experience a glimpse of glory for ourselves.
We know that “God is love,” so when we live out this love we will experience the very one we long to see. If we do not have love, John warns that we will not have love for God or God’s love in our lives. A few verses later in 1 John 4:20 it says, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.”
The walk-away for us is that we must be intentional to express love to others (those we can see) so that we will have deeper love for and from God (whom we cannot see). What can you do today to show love to someone? I am not talking about some gushy, romantic, sappy love. I mean the biblical kind of love that is selfless and able to impact a life because you went out of your way to meet someone else’s needs above your own. What is that practical thing you can do today?