The sweetest kiss |
Greet one another with a holy kiss. 2 Corinthians
13:12
I surprised a friend of mine with the gift of her favorite
cookies, and delighted, she responded by kissing my cheek. My daughter, sent me a video of her
sixteen-month-old kissing baby dolls. Her toddler gives kisses to those she
loves, even dolls, and anyone else who pleases her. About that same time, another one of my daughters sent me a picture of her little girl giving her daddy a precious kiss.
These tokens of affection touch my heart. And then, I read the Apostle Paul’s
words, Greet one another with a holy kiss (2 Corinthians 13:12).
All this about kissing, made me think of Judas’ kiss,
and I looked at the picture I took at Chartres Cathedral memorializing this event.
Picture taken at Chartres, France – front portal of the
Chartres Cathedral
|
When I went to France
in 1999, I visited this marvel of 13th century architecture. I was
awed by its grandeur and the multitude of sculptures, inside and out of the
structure, seemingly on a mission to teach the Word of God and tell the story
of Jesus.
Every time I look at this picture, portraying Judas’ kiss, I
am saddened. What a hateful act of betrayal. Again, I thought, Oh, how could he have done that? I
could never. And then I realized, oh yes, I could, and I do. When I
disregard our Lord’s counsel, I betray Him. When I lose confidence in the
integrity of His word, and when I fail to walk in faith, I betray Him.
Our actions either portray or betray Jesus.
Jesus told us to shine. Let your light so shine
before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is
in heaven (Matthew 5:16). Paul echoed that sentiment when he said, For
ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children
of light (Ephesians 5:8).
Are we doing that? When we compromise with the
world, we become traitors. We don’t shine as children of light. We can’t. We’ve let darkness
overshadow His truth.
Jesus said to his disciples in the midst of His own agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, Watch
and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is
willing, but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41). And we know what happened
there: Judas betrayed Him, Peter denied Him, and most of the other disciples deserted
Him. Watch and pray.
Are we watching and praying?
I know today August 21, 2017 almost
everyone in this country, especially those in the path of the total eclipse of the sun will be watching.
Wouldn’t it be a powerful thing, if all those who look up at the sun today, look up to Him and pray for the world. Oh, that we would watch and pray as He
intended; then our actions would portray His love and light.
Blessed is he that watcheth. Revelations 16:15
Sunrise at Seabrook Island ~ Beautiful Photograph courtesy of Eileen DeCamp |
Thanks to everyone who takes a moment out of this momentous day to visit Write Moments with God. I appreciate you and pray God blesses your day in a special way. Feel free to leave comments below and to share this blog post with your friends.
Hi Rose,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post today! I love the photo of your granddaughter giving her dad a kiss! How sweet! Yes, I wonder how many people just said a short prayer for our world today as they were gazing at the amazing eclipse. Just looking up to the sky should remind us to pray and thank God for our wonderful lives and he is there just waiting for us to talk to him!
thank you
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