Light up the night!

Do you recognize the place?  This is a satellite image of the United States at night.  Compelling, isn’t it?

As we ponder the picture, it is easy to see where the people are!  Just look for the light!  Darkness covers everyplace else.

Keep this picture in mind and let us contemplate Jesus’ words to his followers: “You are the light of the world.  A city on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16). 

Like the glow of cities brightening the skies, we are called to light up the world!  (How amazing!  How humbling.)  But where does our light come from?  Can any of us radiate the love and truth of Christ from our self-centered flesh?  I don’t think so!  Without the Spirit, we can no more illumine the dark than we can light a room without a matchstick or a light bulb. 

Rather, that which glows out from us is nothing short of the Spirit of him who lives in us.  Jesus said of himself, “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).  Similarly, John witnessed of the Christ, “In him was life, and that life was the light of men” (John 1:4). 

What does our corner of the world look like when we close our shutters and hide this light of Christ from those in search of it?  Look at the picture again ... and think Wyoming at night.  As our mission is clear, so too are the consequences when we neglect it.

But when the beacon within us beams out into the world around us, darkness rolls away and the kingdom of God is revealed in its glory.  And with every person who sees Christ anew through the eyes of faith, the earth glows brighter with one more lamp and the heavens declare the Father’s glory.

Jesus is our life; Jesus is our light.  So let him shine through you wherever you are today! 

Let’s light up the map! 

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.”  Isaiah 60:1

[Click here to see the daily reading in Matthew 5:13-20.]