Gleam

ASHAMED

I was in a Starbucks yesterday, and something interesting happened. I was minding my own business when all of a sudden...BOOM! A shattering sound echoed throughout the whole Starbucks.

"That's weird," I thought. Until I looked down on the ground and discovered that it was my elbow that hit one of the new promo coffee cups from Portugal. Talk about frustrating. Talk about shame.

For a split second, I had one of those moments where I considered taking off running. But that wouldn't have been right. Instead, I went up to the counter and offered to pay for it. The guy behind the counter said not to worry about it. I went back to my chair wading through broken glass and decided to pick up the big pieces for them.

GLEAMIN'

Isn't that like our relationship with God at times? We do something we're ashamed of. We consider running for a split second. We decide not to run. We choose to go to Him instead to compensate for our crazy decision. Then, He releases us from our sin and shame.

What's next though? This is where people all over the world in the Church get crazy sometimes. We either live legalistically following rules to earn grace or go crazy sinning left and right trampling over the grace that has been given to us as a gift. I'm guilty of both. I thank God that, although I'm not where I want to be, I'm also not where I used to be.

Back to the question, "What's next after God forgives us?" In the book of Matthew it says, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).

Do you know what the word gleam means? It means to "shine brightly, especially with reflected light" (Oxford American Dictionary). This is precisely the next step. We are transformed, set free, and commanded to live the rest of our life gleamin'. We are not going to be perfect, but, instead, we will live life gleamin'. We ask for forgiveness when we fail, and we get up better, wiser, stronger, and full of humility; somehow (by God's grace and power), we're still gleamin'.

Keep in mind that everywhere you go, you reflect the Light that you have found in Jesus. Just as the scripture suggests, then "they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."