(Guest Post by: Kamryn Green – Blogmas Day Thirteen 2023)
Somewhere, someone finds the most captivating pearl. A man knows the most beautiful woman in the world to him, and a musician will play for hours on the street.
There are thousands of other pictures like these. But for each one, the beauty of what’s been found, touched, known, elicits a response:
The person treasures the pearl.
The man forsakes all others to love her.
The musician loves the music the more she plays. Why else would she still be playing?
And yet . . . there are times when I look away from what—who—I should treasure most.
Times I forsake.
Times when love wanes.
How could this ever happen for One so beautiful? One who is perfectly holy, abundant in wisdom, awesome in strength and majesty, the Alpha and Omega— Beginning and End, the LORD God Almighty!
The truth is, He is the only One worth seeking, and how great is the reward of doing so. And yet, so many moments have I been captivated by something else. When this happens, it seems to only become easier for the eyes to continue to roam; the eyes of the heart.
To busy themselves with something else, whether a good thing or a bad thing.
Good things can be idolized and the bad can become enticing, whether in big or small measures for both.
What fickle love I have if I look away from Him! But what does it actually MEAN to gaze upon Him without ceasing?
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”—Matthew 5:8
It’s interesting to see the correlation between purity and seeing.
Matthew 6:22: “The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light . . .” A lamp shines but to shine it has to become full of light, has to be lit. What fills it with light?
“. . . the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes . . .”—Psalm 19:8.
The Hebrew word here for “enlightening” means “to be or become light, shine.”
Matthew 5 shows us the precedent to seeing Him, and Psalm 19 shows us a precedent that’s even sooner: It’s His command that is pure and without fault, Him who purifies what is with fault. And as He purifies, then I can behold.
Beholding isn’t mindless apathy, but neither is it redundant activity. It is knowing Him, being transformed, and knowing Him all the more.
To know Him more is consequently to know His holiness, His purity, which, just like the person and the pearl, elicits a response.
The right response to the Lord of lords is worship and obedience. Therefore, I am even more sanctified through this continual beholding and knowing, there is change that occurs.
His holiness is beautiful. The more I know, the more my affections are centered on Him, wrong ones are changed, and fickle love is pruned to abiding devotion. There is so much more that could be said, so much depth to search in these Scriptures shared . . .
May we keep seeking, and may our response to Him be the good and enduring one: To treasure, hold fast, and love Him above all else. More and more by the day.
The Few 
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