Devotional Reading; Luke 9: 28-36

Text: Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to Him!”

The reading assigned for today is what is called The Transfiguration of Jesus. It was a mystical experience that three disciples experienced.  The thing that stood out to me was the last three words of our text; “Listen to Him!”

The disciples initial response to the Transfiguration was to build a memorial or a shrine commemorating the event.  We do do the same thing. Some are very elaborate. Others are not.  Along the highways where I live there are make-shift memorials marking the place where someone died in an automobile accident.

There is nothing wrong with this, but they are a “one and done.” Sooner or later they are largely forgotten as the generations pass. For example, no one recalls where the Old Testament patriarch Jacob erected his memorial marking his “God-moment”.

God wants followers of Jesus to be “living memorials.” That is why the voice from the cloud told the disciples to “Listen to Him!” Do what Jesus told you to do! Love with a holy and complete love those whom God loves. Take Jesus and His teachings seriously. Be a light that breaks the darkness of a broken and troubled world. Let what you do and say be a blessing that glorifies God.*

Lord, make me into a living memorial that reflects the love of Jesus to others, especially to the dark places of the world. Amen.

*While researching a sermon recently I did a word study of “glory” and “glorifies”. Using the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament I discovered that “glory” and its derivatives means “to honor.” May your life and mine be God glorifying.