Having looked at the unnecessary burdens we need to leave with God in exchange for His light and easy yoke (Matt 11:28-30), we continued looking at the idea that ‘the only weight we need to carry is the weight of God’s glory’ by exploring the idea of God’s glory.
‘Glory‘ is a difficult term to define, for it is largely an abstract concept for us and we find it much easier to deal with proper nouns that we can see and touch! That is why God so often gives us examples of abstract ideas (‘God is love’ is explained by John thus: ‘‘This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.’ (1 John 3:16) ) or uses metaphors (He is our Shepherd, our Rock etc.) Ps 19:1 talks about the heavens and skies declaring God’s glory and praise, reminding us of God’s magnificence. Is 43:7 reminds us that we are handmade people, made in God’s image and for His glory. Quite often, God’s glory is described using images we can understand, such as clouds or fire or dazzling light.
Ex 24:15-16 reminds us that when Moses received the Ten Commandments, a cloud descended on Mount Sinai and this was seen as a burning fire. (Heb 12:18) When Moses finished working on the Tabernacle – the symbol of God’s presence – a cloud descended (Ex 40:34-35); similarly, a cloud descended when Solomon finished praying over the dedication of the Temple. (2 Chron 7:1) The Hebrew word for ‘glory’ (‘chabod’) carries with it a sense of weight and heaviness (as when we talk about someone’s opinions being ‘weighty’, meaning important). The image of fire is seen in Isaiah 6 and of dazzling light in Is 60:1-3 and the Transfiguration of Jesus. (Matt 17:3-5) Every encounter with God’s glory, whether that is described in terms of clouds or fire or dazzling light, leaves an indelible impression on people. When we encounter God in this way, there is a weight imprinted on our souls, like the mark of footprints in the snow.
In 2 Cor 3:7-18, Paul contrasts Moses’s experience of God’s glory on Mount Sinai with our experience, contrasting the ‘old covenant’ with the new. ‘We all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.’ (2 Cor 3:18), or as the Message version says ‘‘Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.’
As we dwell in God’s presence, as we seek to encounter Him and abide in Him and remain in Him, our lives will lose the unnecessary weight of dead burdens but will become heavier with the weight of God’s glory. Our lives will have more meaning, will leave a deeper impression, will make their mark on this world, because our faces will be shining with the brightness of God’s face. God’s presence, God’s glory, God’s nature… all we need. All other weights given up for the weight of God’s glory.