When we were first asked to write a devotion about the word “glorious,” I was amazed and had to laugh at myself and God. You see, we had already taken our summer vacation early in June and the one word I used to describe our vacation to anyone who asked was “glorious.” I knew exactly what glorious meant because that was my vacation. It was the first time in four years that we were all able to travel to the Outer Banks together and stay together the entire week. No one leaving early, no one coming late … .

The four of us were together for meals, movies, games, the beach, the aquarium (where I discovered a love for turtles like you would not believe), bocce, shopping, and the pool. The entire week (roughly 168 hours) of together time. No one was on anyone’s nerves, we had our favorite meals, we laughed, talked about our son’s big move, our daughter’s senior year in nursing school and prayed a lot over all that was getting ready to happen in the next 18 months.

To me, this was glorious because I had this precious time with my husband and kids, and it was uninterrupted by life’s mess and all it brings to our lives. It was exactly what this mom’s heart craved and the most glorious time I could imagine.

Miriam Webster’s dictionary defines “glorious” as possessing or deserving glory: illustrious; entitling one to glory; marked by great beauty or splendor: magnificent; delightful, wonderful. According to that, I was right on the money for my vacation.

The Greek word for glorious is endoxos which means in glory, i.e., splendid (figuratively) noble; glorious, gorgeous, gorgeously, honorable. Still thinking this aligns with my vacation definition.

The words glory, glorify and glorified are used 13 times in John 13-17, our Scripture for our 40-day study. That kind of clued me in that the meaning of the word was important to the Apostle John and we might had better understand what it means on a personal level.

In John 14:15-21, the word glorious is not used, but what is shared in this Scripture is just that. It is content that is adding to how he is defining glory. Let’s look at each verse and glean from it what the Lord may be saying to us. In verse 15, Christ tells us that our love for Him should cause us to keep His commandments. What does that mean? Simply put it means to keep His Word. Then, in verse 16, Jesus tells us that He will ask His Father, God, to give us a helper to come to our aid and stay with us forever — the Holy Spirit. In verse 17 Christ lets us know that the Holy Spirit is truth, and the world cannot see or grasp Him (the Holy Spirit) because it (the world) does not know or recognize truth. We, as Christians, can know and see Him because He abides in us. Jesus goes on to say in verse 18 that He is not leaving us without aid. Jesus also tells us in verse 19 that the world will not recognize Him, but that we who are believers will understand Him. Because He lives, we also live. The picture that verse 20 draws is very intriguing to me. It is as if God is inviting me into infinity!

Finally, in verse 21, Jesus sums it all up by saying that if I keep His commands, it proves to me that I love Him. This in turn actualizes both the Father’s and Jesus’s love in me, with the bonus of Jesus revealing Himself to me. Glorious infinity!

I don’t know about you, but I like things that are plain and simple. To know Christ is to love Christ. How much simpler could that be? The glory of Christ is knowing Him and having Him alive in me. (Colossians 1:29)

You may have a multitude of reasons for participating in this 40-day study. But John simplifies what should truly draw us close to Him and His Father. What truly matters for eternity is that you take the time to know and obey Jesus and His Word so that you can enjoy Him forever in GLORY!