Turning the Head

I learned to turn my head because dad turned his head.

Why did we turn our heads?

It was the bikini-clad beauty on the car commercial or in the beach scene in a movie. I learned that we were supposed to turn our heads to avoid seeing something that we should not see. I didn’t understand the reason.

I later learned that turning my eyes away from the indecently dressed model/actress was to avoid lust. Instead of gazing and taking the risk of allowing my mind to develop improper desires...look away.

I have made a covenant with my eyes;

How then could I gaze at a virgin?

Job 31:1

Job made a promise to himself to turn his head and look away to avoid lust.

Since that early head-turning lesson from my dad, I have learned that there are other times to turn my head. Did you know that not only does the turning of one’s head have practical value, it is symbolic of rejection?

In Scripture, God turned his face or hid his face from His people when they turned to idols. (Leviticus 20:6; Deuteronomy 31:18) Do you see all the turning? They turned away from God, rejecting Him. In disappointment, He turned away from His people, rejecting them.

King David pleaded with God, “Do not hide your face from me,” a plea echoed one line later: “Do not abandon me nor forsake me.” (Psalm 27:9) In the beloved Psalm 51, David pleaded, “Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities.”

For God to look at a person brings blessings; to turn His face away is rejection.

Is there anything in life that you should turn your face from? Is there anything that you should reject by literally turning your head?

Sitting at the wedding of an acquaintance, the bride and groom stepped away from the officiant and approached a statue. They knelt before it and prayed. I could not look! It was offensive! It did not matter who the statue represented; nor the reason for bowing and praying. It was idolatry!

The Apostle Paul wrote…

Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. 

—Ephesians 5:11-12

Are you curious about sin? 

Do you want to know more about darkness?

Do you want to talk about the things ungodly people do in secret?

Be careful with your gaze. Keep your curiosity in check. To whatever it is that you consistently turn your head to look, there lies your heart’s interest.

Idolatry causes God to turn his face away; but a humble heart captures his attention as does one who is moved by His word. (Isaiah 66:2)

What about you? 

Is there anything that causes you to turn your head and look away? 

What kinds of things turn your head to draw your attention?

The writer of Hebrews encouraged the saints to “lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus.”

If, like Lot’s wife we turn toward Sodom, we will become like Sodom. But if we set our gaze on Jesus, we will become like Jesus. 

On what do you gaze?

Mark Stinnett

September 28, 2025

Heaven Sight

Do you remember this camp/devotional song?

   Heaven is a wonderful place,
   Filled with glory and grace.
   I wanna see my Savior’s face;
   Heaven is a wonderful place.

I’ll admit that, as a youth, I liked the snappy musical part of the song, but never gave much thought to the words. To me, the idea of seeing the Lord’s face might have satisfied one’s curiosity, but it didn’t seem like a blessing.

Things changed dramatically several years ago when spending time with Moses (not literally, in Scripture).

On one occasion God had to rebuke Aaron and Miriam, Moses’ siblings. They had spoken against Moses because, in their opinion, he had not married the right gal.

God reminded the two that when He communicated with prophets, it was through visions and dreams. However, with Moses, his faithful servant, He spoke face to face, or in God’s own words “mouth to mouth, even openly, and not in dark sayings, and he beholds the form of the Lord.” (There’s more to the story in Numbers 12.)

Have you ever seen an investigative report on TV where the identity of the person being interviewed was kept secret? The lighting was set up so that viewers could only sees a silhouette. Still, we, the viewers, strained to study the shadowy figure in hopes of identifying him. As much as the secret identity was necessary, we still wanted to see his face. Not seeing was not knowing, and that was somewhat of a distraction.

Face to face is personal. 

     Face to face is intimate.

          Face to face is knowing.

While still at Mount Sinai, before receiving the Ten Commandments, Moses had set up a tent of meeting, that is, a place where he would go to meet with God. It was a simple man-made tent, not the God-ordained tabernacle that would be built later. Moses would enter his man-made tent of meeting, which was set up outside the Israelite encampment, and God would descend in a pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent. There God would speak to Moses while all of Israel would come out to the entrance of their tents and worship.

“Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just a a man speaks to his friend.”

—Exodus 33:11

On one occasion Moses began to describe to God the relationship between him and God and between God and Israel. He was leading up to a request that God would be their leader, not an angel or something/someone else. God agreed to personally lead Israel. He even gave a reason: “for you [Moses] have found favor in My sight and I have known you by name.”

Moses, aware that God knew him by name, recognized that he had an intimate face-to-face relationship with God. Yet, as if he could stand it no longer, perhaps like a little child, Moses blurted out: “I pray You, show me Your glory!” 

He wanted to experience the very same level of face-to-face intimacy that God had with him. God tenderly explained, “I Myself will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you….” But He added, “You cannot see My face and live, for no man can see Me and live.”

At the end of the book of Revelation the Apostle John is shown the eternal city of God. He saw that in that city there was no temple, “for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.” (21:22) Later John wrote: “and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bondservants will serve Him; they will see his face….” (22:3-4)

Oh to stand in the presence of God, 

Oh to see Him face to face.

Heaven IS a wonderful place.

Mark Stinnett

August 21, 2022