“We’ll leave the light on for you” was the tagline for a famous, decades-long commercial for Motel 6, first ad-libbed by spokesman and radio personality Tom Bodett.
Bodett’s down-home, folksy voice and personality became synonymous with the brand for over 35 years. “We’ll leave the light on for you” wasn’t flashy or clever. It didn’t promise luxury or unique amenities. It promised rest, safety, and a welcoming, clean place for weary travelers.
When a friend says they will be arriving late, after dark, we promise, “We’ll leave the light on.” It shines amidst dark homes to point the way. To say you’re welcome here. There’s a place here for you.
Scripture often speaks of light in the same way. As one writer noted, “not as a spotlight, but an invitation. Not as a performance, but as a presence.” The apostle John writes, “The one who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him” (1 John 2:10). Love is the glow that reveals we’re living in the light of the Lord. When love is present, stumbling is reduced.
The next verse, 1 John 2:11, describes the polar opposite. The person who walks in darkness. There’s no glow of love. No light to show the way. A failure to walk in the light breeds suspicion, resentment, jealousy, and bitterness. Light, however, dispels the darkness of animosity, ill-will, and even hatred. The lack of love is not just a relational failure, but an indication of spiritual darkness.
Jesus proclaimed to his followers, “You are the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14). Like a shining city set on a hill, or a candle that lights a dark room, light is meant to be seen, not hidden. It glows.
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 from the world. By serving others. By talking, acting, and dressing in a way that glorifies God and points the way to Jesus. Such a shining light, with visible good works, is not self-promotion but recognition of who we serve and honor.
The world may not pay attention when we debate doctrine, but they see love. It glows. Quickly, but powerfully. Sometimes it seems understated, unannounced, unrecorded, and even unrewarded in worldly ways, but our walk of love, visibly demonstrated in patience, kindness, generosity, and forgiveness, illuminates the Lord.
Our love glows when we refuse to retaliate. Listen instead of arguing. Serve without being prodded. Give credit instead of seeking it.
When our love glows, it doesn’t demand attention. Or need amplification. It stands out on its own in a world that’s too often hard and harsh. Cruel and cutting. Crude and rude. This is where love glows.
Paul’s exhortation to a corrupt Roman culture in the 1st century is also an admonition we need to hear and heed in the 21st century: “Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world” (Phil. 2:15-16).
The question is not whether we claim to be in the light. The question is whether our love is glowing.
–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman
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