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This Little Light Of Mine


 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16)

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.
Every day, every day, every day, every way,

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” (C.S. Lewis)
          What does light do? It shines, of course, but a light shining really doesn’t do anyone any good. It might be pretty, but unless it is shining on something. In today’s passage, our light (whatever that is) is supposed to shine on our good works. But if our light is to shine on our good works, the good works cannot be the light. I suspect that I thought it was.
         Another thing about the light is that the result of its shining is that others are supposed to see your good deeds and glorify God. This is a challenge. Our light is to shine on our good deeds, but we don’t get the credit. God does. How is this possible? The first idea is that we do our good deeds without others knowing who did them. A second idea is that we do them in obedience to God’s direction. A third idea is that we do those good deeds so much as an outgrowth of who we are that we don’t even notice we’re doing them
          But none of this matters if we don’t deal with the question of what our light is. If it is not the works, what is it? The Amplified Bible says “the light of Christ.” If that’s the meaning, then letting your light shine might be said to involve letting others see the work God has done in you. That’s a good understanding. Another possibility that comes to mind is that letting your light shine involves demonstrating faith and/or a good attitude. I’m not sure those aren’t the same thing.

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