Skip to main content

Light of the World?

              “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 the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.  (Matthew 5:14-16)

 

                I must smile. We’ve been considering fear for the past several days, and today’s passage-of-the-day included these verses. At the moment, I can’t think of much that is more frightening than what is said above. Granted, the passage isn’t written specifically to any one person, but to every one person, but the issue doesn’t change. I? I am the light of the world? Someone is going to see things by the light that I provide? It’s not all on me, but, it’s all on me? The pronoun in the last several questions could easily be changed to you, he, she, we, or them.

                It’s at this point that the people represented by all of those pronouns are likely to start backing away and making excuses. Some may smile and congratulate God on having finally noticed, but most of us will whine that our light is too dim, too weak, too unsteady. The moment we are proclaimed to be light, we see ourselves as darkness. “I’m not good enough” may not come from our mouths, but it screams from every neuron.

                Recently, I seem to be noting how “everyone else” is doing so much better than I am. My light is pathetic. Other people build lives. Other people have careers, relationships, money, power. Other people’s books sell. Other people are loved or admired and when they speak, people listen. Other people this…other people that…whine.

                Psychology and modernism tell us that we are wrong, that we must battle against the lie that we are not good enough. It’s part of our spiritual warfare. They’re right and wrong. It’s the same issue as with fear. The truth is, we are not good enough. But the issue is whether our lack turns us toward God, or away from Him. As I think about it, I would far rather be “not good enough” and have God work through me without my notice than to hold my head high as “the light of the world” and be useless to Him.

                

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen To Him

              The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him . (Deuteronomy 18:15)           Today, we switch from Jesus’ claims of “I am” to prophecies made about Him. My Bible platform is starting in Deuteronomy. I’d start in Genesis, where we would learn that the one who would save us would be a descendant of Eve (Genesis 3:15), of Noah (by default), Abram and Sara(Genesis 12:1-3). Isaac (Genesis 17:19), Jacob (Genesis 25:23), Judah (Genesis 29:8), and David (II Samuel 7:12-16). There were also references to a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-32). In addition, there were prophecies about when and where the prophet/Messiah would be born and what would happen to him.           Of course, naysayers will claim that Jesus’ life was retrofitted or reverse enginee...
Post a Comment
Read more