Light of the World
“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 5:14-16
Recently, my heart has been overcome with grief over the evil that is in our world. And I don’t just mean the ISIS situation. I have been exposed to some things on TV that have shocked me and caused me great alarm for this world we live in—right here in America, here in Aurora, for that matter. Who on earth thinks up this horrible stuff anyway? And further, and more concerning, who watches it? I had epiphany the other day: the people I am standing in line with at the grocery store watch this stuff; and even more disturbing, most of them like it.
But we have the answer, don’t we? His name is Jesus. The Almighty, Creator of the universe Who can transform and change people’s lives.
But…
We don’t always let on that we have the answer do we?
Jesus said in Matthew 5:14-16:
“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.
I was thinking about the “baskets” we put our lights under; the reasons we hide behind.
Insecure hearts:
Could it be that we hide behind the preconceived ideas of how someone will respond to the truth of God’s Word?
Injured hearts:
Maybe we have been hurt so we don’t want to be faithful to our calling in the body of Christ, thus hiding our God given gift. A gift He gave us to shine before men, so that they would see His good works and glorify the Father in heaven. We need to be shining our light at church too.
Internal hearts of bitterness:
Jonah hid too, didn’t he? And his reason was he didn’t want the people of Nineveh to be forgiven. They were evil, evil people. He had an internal heart problem. It just may be that we don’t want to share the hope of Christ with others because deep down in our hearts we want them to “get what they deserve.”
But Jesus said we should take our light and place it on a stand so that others can see.
“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…”
So…
Instead of being insecure, be unashamed!
2 Timothy 1:8 NLT
So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord.
2 Timothy 2:15
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Instead of hiding behind an injury, be unimpaired!
How? By forgiving those who have hurt you; by understanding that you will get hurt again. It’s tough, believe me, I know! But we have got to come to the conclusion that our Savior deserves our every sacrifice.
And He has asked us to forgive. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32
And to carry on.
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Hebrews 12:1
Instead of feeding an internal heart problem, be understanding!
Understand that…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)
Jesus died to rescue humanity from evil.
So, my sisters, as we are on our journey for that awaited day, let’s take our lights out from under that bushel and hold it high for everyone to see!
“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 5:14-16
Recently, my heart has been overcome with grief over the evil that is in our world. And I don’t just mean the ISIS situation. I have been exposed to some things on TV that have shocked me and caused me great alarm for this world we live in—right here in America, here in Aurora, for that matter. Who on earth thinks up this horrible stuff anyway? And further, and more concerning, who watches it? I had epiphany the other day: the people I am standing in line with at the grocery store watch this stuff; and even more disturbing, most of them like it.
But we have the answer, don’t we? His name is Jesus. The Almighty, Creator of the universe Who can transform and change people’s lives.
But…
We don’t always let on that we have the answer do we?
Jesus said in Matthew 5:14-16:
“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.
I was thinking about the “baskets” we put our lights under; the reasons we hide behind.
Insecure hearts:
Could it be that we hide behind the preconceived ideas of how someone will respond to the truth of God’s Word?
Injured hearts:
Maybe we have been hurt so we don’t want to be faithful to our calling in the body of Christ, thus hiding our God given gift. A gift He gave us to shine before men, so that they would see His good works and glorify the Father in heaven. We need to be shining our light at church too.
Internal hearts of bitterness:
Jonah hid too, didn’t he? And his reason was he didn’t want the people of Nineveh to be forgiven. They were evil, evil people. He had an internal heart problem. It just may be that we don’t want to share the hope of Christ with others because deep down in our hearts we want them to “get what they deserve.”
But Jesus said we should take our light and place it on a stand so that others can see.
“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…”
So…
Instead of being insecure, be unashamed!
2 Timothy 1:8 NLT
So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord.
2 Timothy 2:15
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Instead of hiding behind an injury, be unimpaired!
How? By forgiving those who have hurt you; by understanding that you will get hurt again. It’s tough, believe me, I know! But we have got to come to the conclusion that our Savior deserves our every sacrifice.
And He has asked us to forgive. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32
And to carry on.
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Hebrews 12:1
Instead of feeding an internal heart problem, be understanding!
Understand that…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)
Jesus died to rescue humanity from evil.
So, my sisters, as we are on our journey for that awaited day, let’s take our lights out from under that bushel and hold it high for everyone to see!