There’s a beautiful word picture in today’s One-Year Bible reading that fills me with anticipation for an incredible blessing.
It’s so simple, yet so potent.
It sure reveals something about the heart of God.
What makes this text even more interesting and useful is that it is spoken within the context of sibling reconciliation.
You’ll recall that the brothers Jacob and Esau had a terribly dysfunctional relationship during their young adult years.
Jacob was a schemer and Esau was a flesh-focused slug who sometimes didn’t think things through as he should have before acting.
Making a very long story very short, Jacob schemed to gain a couple of major prerogatives that belonged to Esau. Ultimately, Jacob had to flee for his life.
For a couple of decades, God stirred Jacob’s heart to go back to the land of his birth and take his new family and abundance of wealth with him.
Jacob went but with the uncertainty of how it would turn out when seeing the brother that he exploited long ago.
Fearful of wrath, Jacob nonetheless obeyed the leading of the Lord.
The day came that the brothers finally met. But instead of the retribution that Jacob had prepared himself to expect, he was greeted with something else — a great, big smile focused on reconciliation.
Esau didn’t want to destroy the brother who had cheated him.
Instead, Esau embraced him and the two wept.
Rather than retribution, there was reconciliation.
The big smile on Esau’s face said it all in Jacob’s view.
“What a relief to see your friendly smile. It is like seeing the face of God!” (Genesis 33:10)
This is a very telling statement that shows just how important forgiveness and reconciliation are in any human relationship.
Jacob, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is telling us one of the most effective ways that we can communicate the nature of God.
You see, when we reconcile with another after somebody forgives, it puts a smile on God’s face. And the smiles that our peace-making provides to us become powerful testimonies as to why faith is so important.
Listen, friends. Seek to repair all your relationships. Share friendly smiles with others. Particularly those who have disappointed or wounded you.
If you are the one who needs to seek forgiveness, get to it so that friendly smiles can return to your face and the face of the one you offended.
For as you and I do this, others will be seeing the face of God and we’ll stay on the path that prepares us for the day we’ll actually see the face of God.
As always, I love you
Martin
