For now we see only a reflection, as in a mirror, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.
- 1 Corinthians 13:12
As you read these words, my family and I are enjoying a week in Spain—eating the food, visiting the museums, and soaking up as much of the culture as we can in a week. What a blessing it is to have this time learning about a country with such a rich history!
One figure who looms large over Spanish culture is Pablo Picasso, the famed Cubist painter of works like Guernica and Weeping Woman. In these paintings and others like them, Picasso breaks up his subjects into geometric shapes, then reassembles them abstractly. The result, as we’ve seen, is that when you’re looking at a Picasso painting, you know what you’re seeing, but it looks…off. You almost have to squint to understand what you’re looking at.
The Bible tells us that our life in Christ is kind of like that. For those who know Jesus as Lord, we have received a measure of the life to come. Our salvation is secured, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit, and we know the presence of the Lord.
Yet this is only a shadow of what awaits us in heaven, when we will see the Lord face to face and know him fully, as we are now fully known by him. Knowing the Lord in this life is incomparably better than not knowing him, but it pales in comparison with the joy to come in eternity.
When you squint at the best this God-given world has to offer, you can see the glory of God, but you have to squint. The ultimate blessing still awaits those who know the Lord—and praise God, we will see it with eyes wide open.
A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly and who was ill and close to death. When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.” And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed.”
- Luke 7:2-7
The other day, my son Andrew was sorting through his baseball cards and asked me a question: which did I think was worth the most? His suspicion was that a Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card was the answer, but I thought it was a Sandy Koufax card from the 1960s. We argued pleasantly back and forth and eventually the conversation ended without the perfunctory Google search to see who was right. Even as I write this, I still don’t know which card is worth more.
The gospels tell a story where worthiness—not of cards, but of people—seems to carry a lot of weight. In Luke’s account, an influential Roman officer’s slave is so sick he is near death. Hoping Jesus will be able to heal his slave, the officer sends Jewish delegates to the Lord to ask for help. When they do so, they are quick to explain to Jesus that the centurion is “worthy to have you do this for him,” pointing out that he is a friend to the Jewish people and helped with the construction of their synagogue.
When Jesus arrives at the house, however, the Roman officer sends friends out to meet him with a different message: “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof.” He had never intended for Jesus to come to his home, for he trusts that with but a word Jesus can heal his servant. And Jesus, amazed by his faith, does just that.
I think this man’s perspective is enlightening. By all the world’s standards, he is the picture of success: wealthy, powerful, and respected in the community. Indeed, he says, “I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me, and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.” Yet when faced with a situation he can’t control, he understands what others do not: none of his power or influence makes him worthy of a miracle. Ultimately, Jesus alone is worthy.
That kind of humility and faith is worthy—pun intended—of emulation today. It’s easy to get caught up in society’s markers of success, always trying to climb the next rung up the ladder. Like Andrew with his baseball cards, we want to know what we’re worth.
But the Bible reminds us that our ultimate worth is not found in what we build or buy, but in our relationship with Christ. It is in him that we live and move and have our being, and it is through him that we receive salvation and life with God. Don’t look for worthiness where others do—find it in the presence of Savior.
"Blessed are those who listen to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway."
- Proverbs 8:34
“Will you eat this if I put it in your lunch?”
“I built a new addition for my terrarium!”
“Mommy, can I ask you a question?”
“Look, I found my hippo!”
It was a normal evening in our kitchen, but based on that string of non-sequitors, I might as well have been standing in Grand Central Station. One person was trying to do a job, others were trying to show off their work, still another was trying to ask something. And everybody was talking at once.
All four members of my family had something to say, and none of them appeared to have a listener. Instead, it was just words thrown out into the wind—questions unanswered, observations unnoticed, announcements unheeded. After all, you don’t just need something to say to have a conversation. You need somebody to listen.
In the Bible, much of what we read about prayer deals with what we say to God. Scripture has much to teach about employing prayer for adoration and intercession and thanksgiving. We know that in faith we can come to God with whatever is on our minds and cast our anxieties upon him, knowing that he cares for us.
But just as we ought to talk to God, so too should we listen to him. Through his Word and through the leading of the Holy Spirit, God teaches us, guides us, and commands us. We have not been left on this earth unaccompanied, but rather have a Lord who is with us always.
Too often prayer is a one-sided affair, where we talk and talk and talk, never even thinking to listen. But if you want to get the most of out of your prayers, don’t stop once you’ve said what you have to say. God has plenty to tell you—are you listening?
