Matthew 5:14-16
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
When I was a young child I had many fears. For instance, I had a fear of trying new foods, a fear of snakes and bugs, a fear of getting a spanking when I had done something wrong and my biggest fear was the dark. I was the kid who would turn off a light in a room and run as fast as I could to the next room that had light. Now that I look back on that I realize that having that fear was very silly and that nothing in the darkness would hurt me. But I also believe that Christians have been too accustomed to the darkness. We no longer have a fear of darkness, and this is a problem!
As believers in Christ we are supposed to be the light of the world, a city set on a hill, but how often are we hiding our light? Now you might be thinking that this doesn’t apply to you, but think about how many people have you shared the love of Jesus with in the past week? How many did you tell about the gospel? How many have you shared with what the Lord has done, and is continuing to do, in your life?
Now, if you are anything like me, I can assure you that the number is not as high as it should be. But why is this?
We as Christians have done exactly what God has commanded us not to do. Remember the children’s song “this little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine?" Well we, as believers in Christ, are hiding our light under a basket and letting Satan blow out our candle. We fear rejection, what others would think of us, not having the right words to say and, by doing so, we are letting darkness win.
So we go throughout our lives living as if we have no light because we are too consumed with what the world thinks of us. We live in this world but we are not supposed to be of it. We should not be comfortable with living in such a dark place. So what are we going to do about this?
We’ve become too used to being in the darkness that we often forget that we are the light in this dark world. We have the light of the Father within us and it is our job to show it. You are the light of this world and though you may not realize it, but you may be the only light of Jesus that someone else will ever see.
If you don’t show them that light who will? So start shining your light again so others can see your good works and give glory to the Lord. Be the light of this world. You are a child of the King, the one that created this entire universe and everything in it. If he can use a drunk, an old man, a daydreamer, a liar, an ugly woman, a man who stutters, a womanizer, a prostitute, the young, a murderer, an adulterer, a widow and even the dead for his glory I can assure you he can and will use you as well!
