Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash
“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 Cor. 3:18
What we behold, we become.
I’ve been reading a book called, Beholding and Becoming: The Art of Everyday Worship by Ruth Chou Simons that speaks to the everyday walk of our Christian lives. Her encouragement is that we have a chance each day to be more like Jesus with our ordinary worship through what we behold.
This makes perfect sense to me. In homeschooling, my temptation is to make my daily worship about accomplishing. In this framework, my worship is about something of this world, not Jesus. When I start my day with anything else but prayer and spending time in the Word, the day doesn’t feel quite right. The quiet time aligns my heart. My hope is not to make it a spiritual checklist. My hope is to make it a chance to abide deeply in His love to start the day.
Each day is a chance to become a shade more like Jesus. I have gone through different seasons of reading the Word, not understanding the Word, being on fire about the Word, and being frustrated by the Word. But I know that even if I read only one sentence from the Bible a day, it changes me. It allows me to connect to a holy part of myself that is of God. There is always something good to be found by spending time in the Word and talking to God daily.
Sometimes I journal my prayers, sometimes I copy scripture, sometimes I use a phone app as a devotion, other times I use a devotional book. There are days I pray out loud and days I sit quietly and feel like I need to listen. I sometimes work through a formal Bible study, spending weeks or months on a single chapter of the Bible. Other times, I bounce around to something that I am searching for in a particular scripture. On busy days, I will look at a single sentence of the Word. When I am desperate for God, I crank up the praise and worship music or put on an inspirational podcast to give me more spiritual food for my day.
Lately, I have felt like I’m in a season of being hungry for more of God. I want to understand Him in a deeper way. I hope He will continue to keep me hungry for more of Him and pressing into Him. There is always something new to discover in Him, if we are consistent in seeking Him.
My gentle encouragement is to consider what you behold first each day. For me, I don’t want my phone to be what I behold first each day. I don’t want my spiritual checklists to be what I behold each day. I want God alone to be what I behold to start my day. Our God is such a personal God, who speaks to us exactly where we meet Him. I hope God will continue to stir up my heart to fall deeper in love with Him each day. I want each day to bring new discoveries about Him. My desire is to behold more of His goodness every morning, so that I am growing one shade closer to Jesus’ idea of me. My hope is to behold Him and His promises, so I can honor His will for my life.