"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5: 16
Do you remember the first time you heard the children's song "This Little Light of Mine"? I grew up in a very small Missionary Baptist Church, so I was pretty young when I first heard the words "this little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine." There was an average weekly attendance of less than a hundred people at the church, and the younger children were even more scarce, so you couldn't fake it either. Everyone knew when you were singing and when you weren't, so I learned very early that it was easier to just learn the words and sing them right.
There are several verses to that song, so it's pretty amazing that children can learn and retain the lyrics (if you don't know the lyrics, you should google them, they're good). But what's more amazing to me, and quite unfortunate, is how quickly we forget those lyrics when we become adults. Especially since, at least for those of us that eventually chose to follow Jesus, we now know what the lyrics actually mean for us and the darkness of the world.
1 John 1: 5 says that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. Since I know all things come from Him, if He is light, then He is also the light in me. So when Jesus says to "let [my] light so shine before men, that they may see [my] good works and glorify [my] Father in heaven" (Matt. 5: 16), He is telling me to let God's radiance in me spill out over everything that I do. This way, everything I do can bring glory to the Father. "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine."
The way I act or react in a situation or circumstance tells more about who I really am than the things I say. Actions really do speak louder than words. We live in really dark world, and it is getting progressively darker every day. Our culture is moving to push God and Biblical principle out everything it can, in some cases, even the church building. Morality is becoming increasingly more fluid, and the concept of "tolerance" is quickly transitioning to "forced acceptance" all over the country. But battling the system with angry words, bigotry and violence is not the solution. This type of action is failing all over the country, and is doing more damage than correction.
Don't get me wrong, there is a time for tossing tables, as Jesus did to those intentionally corrupting the temple (Matt. 21: 12-13), but it's reserved for the extreme circumstances. God will judge those who deserve His judgment. It's time, as Christians, that we begin shining our light before all men. Let's make them WANT the peace, joy, comfort, mercy and grace that we have in Jesus, not push them away from becoming their own light to glorify the Father.
Father, shine Your light through me. Whether I'm at home or out in the darkness of the world, move my spirit to align with You and spread Your light in everything I do. Let everything I do bring glory to the One who created all things, the One who hung the stars and knows them all by name, You, Almighty God. Praise You, In Jesus' name, Amen.
Do you remember the first time you heard the children's song "This Little Light of Mine"? I grew up in a very small Missionary Baptist Church, so I was pretty young when I first heard the words "this little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine." There was an average weekly attendance of less than a hundred people at the church, and the younger children were even more scarce, so you couldn't fake it either. Everyone knew when you were singing and when you weren't, so I learned very early that it was easier to just learn the words and sing them right.
There are several verses to that song, so it's pretty amazing that children can learn and retain the lyrics (if you don't know the lyrics, you should google them, they're good). But what's more amazing to me, and quite unfortunate, is how quickly we forget those lyrics when we become adults. Especially since, at least for those of us that eventually chose to follow Jesus, we now know what the lyrics actually mean for us and the darkness of the world.
1 John 1: 5 says that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. Since I know all things come from Him, if He is light, then He is also the light in me. So when Jesus says to "let [my] light so shine before men, that they may see [my] good works and glorify [my] Father in heaven" (Matt. 5: 16), He is telling me to let God's radiance in me spill out over everything that I do. This way, everything I do can bring glory to the Father. "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine."
The way I act or react in a situation or circumstance tells more about who I really am than the things I say. Actions really do speak louder than words. We live in really dark world, and it is getting progressively darker every day. Our culture is moving to push God and Biblical principle out everything it can, in some cases, even the church building. Morality is becoming increasingly more fluid, and the concept of "tolerance" is quickly transitioning to "forced acceptance" all over the country. But battling the system with angry words, bigotry and violence is not the solution. This type of action is failing all over the country, and is doing more damage than correction.
Don't get me wrong, there is a time for tossing tables, as Jesus did to those intentionally corrupting the temple (Matt. 21: 12-13), but it's reserved for the extreme circumstances. God will judge those who deserve His judgment. It's time, as Christians, that we begin shining our light before all men. Let's make them WANT the peace, joy, comfort, mercy and grace that we have in Jesus, not push them away from becoming their own light to glorify the Father.
Father, shine Your light through me. Whether I'm at home or out in the darkness of the world, move my spirit to align with You and spread Your light in everything I do. Let everything I do bring glory to the One who created all things, the One who hung the stars and knows them all by name, You, Almighty God. Praise You, In Jesus' name, Amen.
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