Unveiled

PASSAGE FOR THE DAY:
2 Corinthians 3 (click the link)


KEY VERSES:
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And 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 Corinthians 3:17-18, NIV)


REFLECTIONS:
The key verse punches so much power that, until now, I had missed a powerful, but subtle, message in the beginning of the chapter.  Would you pause and read the key verse again? Wow!  Of course this message overshadows some subtle messages!  This tells me where my freedom comes from!  And reassures me that I’m a work in progress—being transformed into His likeness.  It tells me this transformation is being done by the Lord, who is the Spirit—not by me somehow digging in deeper and trying harder.  Take a look again at who is being transformed. Those with “unveiled faces reflecting the Lord’s glory.”  We all long for full and complete freedom and to be transformed… but what’s this about unveiled faces? I’m not a theologian but I suspect it has something to do with the veil being torn when Christ died.  But I wonder if Christ followers still wear veils?

Growing up in East Africa, I was immersed in a Moslem environment.  The Moslem ladies wore the BuiBui, called Burkas in other cultures.  I would be sweltering in the thick humid African coastal air and see these ladies covered completely in black cloth except for their eyes and their sandals.  Being a girl, there were times I was invited into their homes and they would remove their head covering to reveal the most beautiful faces and personalities.  A girl not much older than I, let me try on her BuiBui.  I was suffocated and could only see straight ahead.  So people couldn’t see the real me and I couldn’t see much of the world around me.

Verse 3 is the subtle verse: "You are a letter from Christ, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts."  So it’s the Spirit’s work that transforms us and it is His work in our hearts that is a letter from Christ to others. Is our letter open for others to read?  Or is it veiled?  A veil that keeps us from seeing God, others or the world clearly?  Or a veil that keeps others from seeing us clearly or from reading God’s letter, to them, that the Spirit has written on our heart?


POINT OF PONDER, ACTION, AND PRAYER:
A veil is called by many names in different cultures.  Do you wear a veil?  If so, what is it called?  Is it a veil of past wounds, unforgiveness, fear, guilt, control, anger or skepticism?  Is your veil a mask—on the outside all is well and looks good but inside there is… what… doubt, turmoil, fear… What keeps you from dropping the veil and being real and vulnerable, keeping God’s glory from reflecting to others… keeping the letter to them, that He has written on your heart, unread.


WHO AM I?
Hi!  I’m Cinda Brooks and we’re home!  23 states, 14,000 miles and four months.  It’s HOT here!!  Glad I don’t have to wear a BuiBui but working on dropping the veil is a work in progress.