DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- THE LIGHT

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – THE LIGHT

"You are the light of the world.  A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."  (Matthew 5:14-17)

I remember clearly a visit to the Oregon Caves.  The guide led us down into the bowels of the earth.  There were electric lights to illuminate our path.  At one point, the electric lights were turned off, and we were left in total darkness.  When I say dark, I mean it was so dark I could not see anything.  But each of us had been given a candle, and beginning with the guide, the candles were lit one by one until the cave was filled with light.

Light illuminates.  It reveals what cannot be seen in the darkness.  

The great light was the Lord Jesus.  This was His claim.  He said, "I am the light of the world.  He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life" (John 8:12).  Ordinarily, people love light.  So why don't people like Jesus?  Because He illuminates the dark places of their lives.  As Jesus said, "Everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed" (John 3:20).  The light of Jesus exposes the sin in peoples' lives, and they don't want to confess the shadows, the nooks and crannies where darkness dwells.  So the world tries to snuff out the light or at least pull the shades over it.

We also, by our godly lives, illuminate and expose the darkness around us.  We are God's light in this fallen world and by our deeds, we bring glory to God. God's light shines through us.

The temptation is to put our light under a basket.  But God has called us to be like a city on a hill for everyone to see.  This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.

Love, Dad