Let Your Light Shine

Did you hear the joke about a circus owner who was walking down the street in a tourist district and saw crowd of people around a table watching a show.  On the table was  a pot turned upside down  and a duck tap dancing on it.  The circus owner was so impressed that he offered to buy the duck from its owner. After some haggling the owner agreed to sell the duck and the pot for $10,000.

A couple of days later the circus owner returns to the owner.  “Your duck is a  rip-off!”  He says angrily.  “I put him on the pot in front of a big audience and he didn’t dance  a single step!”

“Well,” asked the duck’s former owner, “did you remember to light the candle under the pot?”

While someone might use a candle that way, that’s not what candles are for.  In the Mountain Message, Jesus said that a candle was put on a candlestick to “give light to all who are in the house.”  Then the Savior said, “Let your light so shine, before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven.”

This metaphor of light is also used by other Bible authors.

          Paul penned, “You are all sons of light and sons of the day.  We are not of the night nor of the darkness.” (1 Thess. 5:5)

          And the wise man wrote, “But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.”

All of these exhortations to Christians can be summed in one word, one value, one directive—Influence!  God wants us to influence those in darkness.  Our Christian influence is a light in a world or moral darkness. And God wants us to influence others.

Think about the value of light. Light is meant to be seen.  To  shine.  To shine brightly. To shine conspicuously.  To shine constantly, To shine usefully.  That is the kind of light we are to be.  A light that does not shine is of no value.  Hide it under a bushel?  NO!  I’m going to let it shine!

How?  By my good works.  By living differently than the world.  By serving others.  By talking, acting and dressing in a way that glorifies God and points the way to Jesus.

A light also guides.  I like to carry a flash light when I travel.  When I’m staying somewhere unfamiliar, it is very helpful to guide me down a dark hallway.  A Christian light serves as a guide in a world that is groping in darkness.  We can guide people to see Jesus. Learn about Him. And obey His gospel.

A light can also warn.  It may say ““danger ahead.”  “Caution.”  “Stop.””  Our light also can serve as a warning to the world that something is wrong.  It can shine in our social circle.  At work.  In our neighborhood.  In the dorm at college.

Wherever we are, our Christian light can be seen. Shining bright. Guiding. Directing. Even warning.

Remember “you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.  Walk as children of light.”  Today!         

—Ken Weliever, The Preacherman