Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine

The idea of being what we are plays itself out in a myriad of ways. First of all, it means integrity. If something is going on in my heart, on the inside, I cannot pretend otherwise on the outside. Usually we think of that in terms of bad stuff, failures and junk on the inside covered with a fake smile and attitude on the surface. However, it can go the other way.

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden… let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:14, 16)

God says that I am light in the world. If I try to cover up that light from Him with acting as if I am just like those who don’t have it, I am just as much a hypocrite as those who pretend to be enlightened when they are really in the dark.

Today’s devotional says that every Christian is placed amid scenes that will bring out her or his character. This is true. How will I act today? I am spending time with my lovely daughter. What will God bring into my heart that He wants shown in my relationship with her? My husband is golfing. He goes out as a single, often winding up with one to three strangers. What has God put in his heart that He wants demonstrated on the greens?

The devotional writer writes about unsaved loved ones whose current status before God presses my heart to prayer and concern for their eternal destiny. He says this also should call forth a demonstration of that burden in my heart. What shape will that take?

Lastly, he writes of a sleeping church with hundreds who profess no interest in all in what Jesus has done to save them. Are they actually not renewed, not pardoned, not even concerned, merely warming the pews until they go to eternity, either up or down? What light does God want me to shine before them?

Can my prayers and concerns have any effect at all in a pagan world or on the foulest guilt or filth and woe? Can my light reach into any dark dungeon of depravity and bring God’s love to sinners there? Whatever I might think isn’t the issue. God says His children are the light of the world and that we need to let our light shine. It is then up to Him what He does with it.