Seeing and Savoring

“Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.” —John 17:24

During the Christmas season, I took some time to read John Piper’s Advent devotional, Good News of Great Joy:  Daily Readings for Advent, which is available for free online at http://www.desiringgod.org.  In the introduction chapter, Piper bases his discussion on John 17:24 and points out that Jesus is praying for all believers—for us!—so that our deepest longings might be fully satisfied in the Father (v).  Piper asserts that “what Jesus wants for Christmas is for us to experience what we were really made for—seeing and savoring his glory” (v). 

Oftentimes we notice the glory of God displayed in big ways, such as through a painted sunset over the glimmering ocean or through a miraculous healing from terminal cancer, but how often on a daily basis do we miss many still, small moments to see the glory of our Lord?  The glory of God fills the earth, but how often are we too busy or distracted to really see it and respond in constant, joyful praise as we should?  When we truly see and experience the glory of Jesus, we are moved to worship as we savor His glory.  As Leslie Ludy once said, “daily life is bursting with opportunities… to create, to sing, to dance, to worship, to serve, to laugh, and to learn.”  When we come face-to-face with a loving, just, righteous, perfect, Holy God, the response of our hearts should be to bow in adoring worship before the throne of God.  Savoring the glory of our Father every minute of every day leads to an eternity of delighting, loving, treasuring, and abiding in Christ.  It is my hope and prayer that we might truly see and savor the glory of our Lord throughout the year, remembering that Christ was born in a manger to die on a cross so that we, undeserving sinners, might be heirs to righteousness and thereby enter into eternal fellowship with the Most High. What joy, what grace, what love.  Oh what a Savior!