5. Reverence…
To the only God, our Saviour, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen
Jude 1:25
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honour and glory and power, for ever and ever!”
Revelation 5:13
In 1984, at the Sarajevo Winter Olympics, a young ice-skating couple, Torvill and Dean, brought the world to a standstill with their interpretation of Maurice Ravel’s stirring piece of music, Bolero. They won gold and achieved the highest score ever with twelve perfect 6’s and six 5.9s. Over 24 million British people, alone, watched on television.
Imagine the audience at the Games standing in awe of such perfection, such beauty and grace as they danced gloriously together across the ice.
Now imagine the standing ovation of every creature that has ever been created before God giving him praise, honour and glory for all that he is, all that he has done. God’s glory is so beyond anything our earthly eyes can encounter. It shone so brightly that it had to be hidden from Moses:
Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”…. Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”
Exodus 33:18, 21-23
John Bevere, in his book “A Heart Ablaze” refers to God’s glory as “all that makes God, God”. The glory of God is his splendour, it is the very essence of who God is – beyond our wildest comprehension – the perfect 6 without blemish, without error. We can’t begin to fathom the greatness, the majesty of God:
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.
Ephesians 1:18
It is with our physical eyes that we can watch dancers like Torvill and Dean dance the perfect 6. It is with our heart eyes that we see God in all his glory. And this revelation produces in me a feeling of both heaviness and lightness in my chest as a response to the knowledges of this glory that radiates through me when I begin to dance with my God.
I have never taken a dancing lesson in my life, but I can imagine (helped by the movie Shall We Dance) what it would be like to be given the chance to dance with the master teacher. To glide around the floor in the arms of the master. His glory would radiate through me as we danced. God’s glory shines through us when we dance with him each day.
God is saying to each of us that he has chosen to come and live in us in all his glory and by his Spirit. We will shine his reflected glory, the glory of the one true and glorious God. We will shine as we dance together around the world.
Prayer: Lord, may your glory shine through me today and each day as I dance this life you have given me in your arms. Guide my every step. Teach me the dance of life that you have ordained for me. Help me to relax and let go, to trust you as the master dancer.
Amen
Action: Today, look around you. See God’s glory in all he has created. See God’s glory in you as you dance together through your day and then lift your voice with every creature in praise and honour to him.
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