The first time I saw an original Monet, it was in an art gallery on the East coast. They treated me like royalty, as if my mere presence proved my divine taste in art.
A girl who grew up in Montana admiring Charles M. Russell, I was being exposed to a whole new world.
When I saw the Monet I was enthralled with the colors, the lights and the essence of being in the artist’s presence. It seemed I was in a world he had prepared just for me. I stood staring for a long time, until I realized a bench that had been strategically placed just behind me. I sat down and continued beholding.
Other art patrons stopped and glanced, some stared, but I beheld. I have forgotten which painting I saw, which exact gallery I was in, but I have never forgot the feeling of being introduced to the person of Monet through his actual work.
This is the same awe I love to have as I read the Scriptures. But, spiritual awe is greater, because it isn’t fueled by admiration only, but by the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Through Word and prayer we can behold Him, the author of our salvation. We can get to know Him, His holy character, His divine purpose and His ability to transform us into His image.
John the Baptist told the people to
Behold is the imperative form, or command form, of the Greek word eido, which means to perceive with the eyes, to have regard for one, to cherish, and pay attention to.
It isn’t a quick glance.
It isn’t the amount of time of the gaze that affects the outcome of the interaction, it is the amount of regard we have for what we are reading. Are we understanding that the Bible IS Jesus?
The people in His day were able to physically behold Him, to hear Him, to feel His healing touch. We have all the same privileges of His presence through the Word of God.
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