Reflect The Glory And Character Of God

When I went for a walk last night, I excitedly spotted an oddly coloured gull. It was standing next to two Ring-billed gulls, which had the more typical colouring of solid white body with solid grey wings sporting solid black tips. This other gull, however, was different. As you can see from the pictures below, it was motley grey and brown.

I was bewildered, to say the least. As soon as I got home, I did some Internet research to find out what type of gull it was. I discovered that this bird isn't a different type of gull at all; it's just a young Ring-billed Gull. Apparently, it takes two years for a young gull to develop the colour and pattern of an adult gull.

When we become Christians, the Holy Spirit immediately comes to reside in us and goes to work right away to change us and make us more and more like our Heavenly Father. As God's children, we take on the glorious image of Jesus Christ, so that when people view us, they see Him in us. It should never be that people we come in contact with are left unaware or confused as to who we are and Whom we serve.

"So all of us who have had that veil removed

 can see and reflect the glory of the Lord.

And the Lord — who is the Spirit —

makes us more and more like Him

 as we are changed into His glorious image."

2 Corinthians 3:18 (NLT)

Many times in my life, I have met a stranger and knew instantly he/she was a Christian before any words were spoken. Why? Because God's glory shines through. There should be no need for others to have to guess who we are, and certainly no one should be shocked to find out. Every time we resist the temptation to sin, every time we choose to love instead of hate, every time we sacrifice ourselves for the sake of God's glory, and every time we obey His Word, we take on God's image and become more and more like our precious Saviour.