DECEMBER 18 THE SIGHT THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING By Mark Strout Executive Dean of Florida and Global Bible Institutes, Word of Life Fellowship And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. (Luke 2:8–9) What's the most breathtaking sight you've ever seen – a stunning sunset, awesome mountains, a powerful storm, or the heavens on a dark night? Though many earthly sights can take one's breath away, none can radically change a life forever – but seeing God does. It's hard to imagine what the shepherds experienced. It was just an ordinary night like thousands before, but their lives were about to be radically changed. In a flash, darkness was displaced by stunning light swirling all around them. God's glory had not been seen like this since it had left the temple centuries before. The shepherds would never be the same. Three disciples experienced it on a high mountain when Christ was suddenly transfigured before them in a blaze of radiant light as bright as the sun. Being struck by lightning would not have been as stunning. Peter was still talking about it 35 years later (2 Peter 1:16–18). It happened to another man on an ordinary road leading to Damascus. The monotony of the journey suddenly gave way to a blinding light flashing all around him as God showed up and forever changed Saul's life (Acts 9:3–4). Could there be a more shocking transformation? Simple shepherds, a self-confident denier, and a seething persecutor were forever changed at the sight of God. What can change us forever? No earthly scene or experience ever will. Only by keeping our eyes on Christ will it ever happen. As we behold His glory through His Word, we'll be gradually transformed to become more like Him (2 Corinthians 3:18). Let's stop fixating on others or on ourselves and focus instead on Jesus Christ. It will inevitably change us forever!
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