JUST BE 30-DAY CHALLENGE
Just BE Light – Day Fourteen
Webster says ‘Light’ means ‘something that makes things visible or affords illumination
Synonyms: bright, luminous, clear, brilliant, resplendent, ablaze, cloudless, unobscured
GOD says in Matthew 5:16, ‘So don’t hide your light! Let it shine brightly before others; so that the commendable things you do shine as light upon them, and then they will give their praise to your Father in heaven (TPT).’ And in John 3:19-21, God says, ‘And here is the basis for their judgment: the Light of God has now come into the world, but the hearts of people love their darkness more than the Light, because they want their darkness to conceal their evil. So, the wicked hate the Light and try to hide from it, for their lives are fully exposed in the Light. But those who love the truth will come out into the Light and welcome its exposure, for the Light will reveal that their fruitful works were produced by God (TPT).’
There is that little song that we all sang at Vacation Bible School or were taught in Sunday School classes. It goes like this: ‘This little light of mine. I’m gonna let it shine. This little of mine. I’m gonna let it shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. Hide it under a bushel, no! I’m gonna let it shine. Hide it under a bushel, no! I’m gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. Don’t let Satan blow it out. I’m gonna let it shine…’ I recall teaching my children the hand motions; can even still hear them singing it while on road trips in the car.
But many lights today are being snuffed out. Especially when times are difficult, our lights become dimmer as our hope becomes dimmer. The embers to the fires that once burned so brightly waver and fade and the wax from the candle of our life melts and drips away til the flame is extinguished. The confidence that we once sang brightly about has grown feeble and the pronunciation is no longer vibrant as it once was.
Light is vital. We are non-existent without it, in fact. We are in the dark, so to speak. In the beginning, the Creator of the Universe set about to fashioning the heavens and the earth by the palms of His hands. We read in Genesis 1, there was darkness that covered the void so this Artist God was molding life in obscurity while His Spirit was hovering over the vast empty blackness. Genesis confirms that the first words ever spoken aloud by this Creator God that are recorded for us are about Light. He said ‘Let there be Light!’ and there was light. And God saw the Light, that it was good.’ He did something amazing then; the Great Unifier ‘divided the light from the darkness, and the light He called Day and the darkness He called Night.’ The first words spoken by our Creator was about Light!
He then placed a star so bright, providing so much Light, that it foretold the arrival of the Infinite Infant, the Savior of the world. And when this Savior of the world hung on a cross to bear the sin of all mankind since the beginning of time to the end of the age, the Light was extinguished by a total eclipse. Darkness once again covered the earth while His Spirit hovered over my penalty and passed through the folds of darkness to bury my sin in the depths of the earth. And, finally, what signified that Jesus had conquered death and the grave, and had risen on the third day, was Light.
Light is powerful. It exposes anything hidden by the dark. Darkness cannot overcome light if light is evident, but light can dispel darkness. Have you ever noticed the atmosphere on a cloudless day? One can see for miles. Everything is defined and distinct even from a distance. The blue of the sky is bluer and the sun is brighter and the shape of trees on the mountain or a bird in the air has detail which can’t be seen as clearly on sullen days. So too is the light within you on a day when it is unobscured by defeat and discouragement and disappointment. As Christians, we have something so powerful within us, the Light of Jesus, that will shine even through our cracks and make His presence in dark places known. Let your little light shine.
Day 14 Challenge: Shine the light of Christ in your life to someone today. Do something special, forgive or react in a way that shows the love of Christ.
