"Having come to the light of the knowledge of the glory of Christ from Scripture or by the preaching of the gospel, let us regard it as our duty to mediate frequently on his glory. It is the neglect of meditation that keeps so many Christians in a feeble state, regardless of their privileges. They hear of these things and assent to the truth of them or at least they do not question them. But they never solemnly meditate on them. They think that meditation is above their capabilities, or they are totally ignorant of how to go about it, or they are not too concerned about it, or they treat it as fanaticism. Many cannot meditate because their minds are so cluttered up with earthly things... so many are stranger to this duty because they do not mortify their earthly desires and concerns.
"There are some who profess to be strict, disciplined Christians, but who never put aside time to meditate on the glory of Christ. Yet they tell us that they desire nothing more than to behold his glory in heaven for ever. They are being wholly inconsistent. It is impossible that someone who never meditates with delight on the glory of Christ here in this world, who does not make every effort to behold it by faith as it is revealed in Scripture, should ever have any real gracious desire to behold it in heaven. It is sad, therefore, that many can find time to think much on earthly, foolish things, but have no heart, no desire to meditate on this glorious object. What is this faith and love they claim to have? ...
"But we experience the power of his [Christ's] life in us only as our thoughts are filled with him and we continually delight in him. If, therefore, we would behold the glory of Christ, we must be filled with thoughts of Christ and his glory on all occasions and at all times. This is the mark of a true Christian." ~John Owen
This sums up why I named the blog what I did. For beholding Christ's glory is my goal and desire. Do you think of Christ and his glory often? Or is he a mere abstract thought, maybe real maybe not, something to believe in as one believes in Santa Clause? For many professing Christians, I think the later is true. Christ is not reality but rather a mere abstract, something to give verbal and mental assent to without ever letting deeps thoughts of him crowd our minds too much... after all, there are much more pressing issues and if we meditate on his glory it might interfere with our life. In this way, many professing Christians today are functional atheists. Their minds do not often turn to Christ and his glory, and when they do more often than not they treat him as an abstract thought rather than a reality. Do we not realize that God is not to be trifled with. He is not some ethereal fairy floating around, he is the Lion of Judah, King of Kings, the Great I AM. It was he who hung the earth on nothing and created all that is seen a unseen. Most of us struggle making it to work in the morning without killing ourselves or someone else while talking on our cell phone and driving. As a civilization, we cannot even get past our own moon [and at this point we can't even get too our moon] and yet we have the audacity to treat God who upholds everything by the power of his word as if he were some inconvenient entity or worse, some add on to make our lives more comfortable. Get off yourself for two seconds and begin to meditate on God. You will soon be struck with a good feeling of smallness as you get a glimpse of his glory.
Owen is correct when he says, and I paraphrase, that a person who is not consumed with Christ on this earth will be ill suited for heaven and more than likely will not see it. This is what the apostle John is talking about when he says that the love of the world is hatred towards God. Many of you will say, "I don't love the world more than I love Christ." However, if we took inventory of our thoughts and actions, I think we would notice a disturbing trend. We do love the world, and much more deeply than we think. For we chase after all the world has to offer, and our minds are consumed with thoughts of how to get more of that which we love. If it is Christ, we think often and always of Christ. If it is the world (anything other than Christ), we think of it often and always. Being honest with oneself is the hardest thing in the world to do, but ask God for wisdom and insight and revelation as to what it is you love most and repent and run to Christ for loving this world more than you realized.
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