Light of the World

Light of the World

  

Matthew 5:14,16 "You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

Luke 8:16 ‘No one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light.

What statements Jesus made when He spoke these words!!  I think that if the Lord speaks the same or similar words more than once then it lends weight to them. We so easily believe it when Jesus said, “ I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12, yet we seem to shrink away from being told that we are the light or even salt and light. Why is that, I wonder?

Perhaps it is that we simply feel unworthy to carry such a responsibility. Perhaps we simply don’t even try and, as a result, we still reflect all the same values as the world and don’t reflect any of Jesus Christ. What kind of a Christian does that say we are? What kind of light is that to shed on anything? Our real problem then is that far from dying to self so that He may be seen, our ego is the only consideration.

To die to self to the extent that we no longer care about man’s opinion must be our aim. God’s opinion is all that matters to us. This means that we abandon the world in favour of heaven. We really do have to leave self out of it as we try to show and demonstrate Jesus love to the unbelieving world.

How do we do that?

We say “How are you?” and actually mean it. We show genuine concern for our neighbour. We help when help is needed. We both laugh and cry with them. We celebrate their good times and help them through bad times. We accept them as they are – just like Jesus does.

In short, we become His voice, His hands, His feet – we demonstrate His love.