Have you ever got any experience of being at the top of the
world? For example, winning a championship of a prestigious award, attending an autograph of your newly-published book, receiving the award of your hard work, being
praised by a respectable person in front of the crowd, appearing on the cover
of a magazine or newspaper, seeing a world idol on the road when you least
expected? How would you maximize the glory and joy of that moment?
Video-taping it? Taking millions of pictures? Inviting friends and press to
share the moments? Framing your awards and stick them on the wall?
If only could there be a pause button in the remote control
of our life, our happiness could stay longer and our life would be much more
beautiful. It is in our human
nature that we want to prolong the moment of joy and amplify our glory as much
as possible. It is completely the same
in the apostles at the time of Jesus Christ. Can we stay longer in our moment
of joy?
In Luke Chapter 9:28-36, Jesus brought Peter, John and James
with him to pray on a mountain but the three disciples were heavy with sleep.
They became fully awake when they saw Jesus’s transfiguration and the two men,
Moses and Elijah, stood with Jesus.
Imagine one day you accidentally ran into your favorite idol whom you
have secretly worship for years. How would you react? In front of Peter are the
two holy role models – Moses and Elijah, he had never met before. How would he
react? If Peter had a camera in front of him, I believe that he would shot
thousands of pictures of his two idols and maybe request for autographs, taping
the whole process, etc. This glorious moment was too valuable, so Peter wanted
the time to stand still. Not knowing
what he said, Peter suggested making three tents for these three holy figures
because it is so good to be there.
In our
life, we have lots of “good” moments that captivated our mind, stopped our steps
in a way that we just want to indulge ourselves in this sort of happiness as
long as we can. We carefully protect
this dream bubble and glance at it every now and then. Is it a problem? I know that we should not be
preoccupied by worldly success, but what about spiritual good moments? Like a spiritual revival camp, a speech by an experienced
Gospel teacher, a testimonial by a strong faith Christian? Is it sinful to extend the joy of these
moments? I think the Bible here is
especially describing these spiritual moments.
Jesus didn't silence Peter this time. He didn't burst
Peter’s dream bubble. “[A] cloud came and overshadowed them… and a voice came
out of the cloud, saying, “This
is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” … then Jesus was found alone”
(Luke 9:34-36) God appeared at this moment, readjusting the focus of the
disciples. It is not
Moses, not Elijah, not the glorious moment that they should focus on. It is
merely Jesus and his words.
We could have spiritual uplifting moments and totally
enjoy them as much as we do, but in the end, we need to go back to the basic,
God’s words, which are the ultimate source of joy, the ultimate principles of
our life and the ultimate voice we should listen to .
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