Recently I woke in the middle of the night and found myself squinting! As I pried my eyes open I realised why. It was a really hot night and so I had the blinds open and the window open to cool the room overnight. There was a full moon that night and it had moved from when I went to sleep and was now shining directly in my face. It was like a spotlight. I looked around the room and I could see everything like it was daytime.

As I rolled over and tried to get back to sleep I was reminded once more that the moon was not shining on me at all. The moon has no capacity to shine. It is only as it catches the glow from the sun that is radiates so magnificently in the night sky. The glory of the moon is all reflected glory.

Have you ever noticed a blinding glimmer of light coming from a tiny object that just so happens to be aligned with the sun that it reflects more light than we could well conceive coming from such a small object? A watch face on a person’s arm often serves as a reflector of light from the sun and if that reflection hits your eyes as a person’s arm moves, it can be incredibly bright and even painful. The light is not coming from the watch face – it is reflected light from the sun.

I saw a sign once above the pulpit in a Church building which read, ‘Let them see Christ.’ It serves as a crucial reminder to that Church’s preachers, worship leaders and congregation that they should reflect Christ’s glory rather than their own. Each of us should keep this in mind as we go about our daily lives in this evil and broken world as Christ-bearers in the world.

But what is not on that sign, and what we too frequently fail to understand, is that in order for others to see Jesus in us, we must first see Him for who He is. No one will by chance see Jesus in our lives. We won’t offer much more than a passing reflection – not the radiant brilliance He would want the world to witness – if we aren’t turning in His direction and seeking His face for ourselves.

We won’t need to make an effort to have others recognise Jesus in us if our innermost desire is to see Him every day, every moment. We will reflect the brilliance of Jesus to everyone around us, just as Moses’ face glowed with the glory of God but he was oblivious of it. Because we have seen Jesus for ourselves, others will also see Him.

So next time you see a full moon light up the whole night sky and everything around you, remember that you are seeing the reflected glory of the sun – just as those around you are meant to see the reflected glory of the Son in you.