This Little Light of Mine Pt. 1

I rarely have the opportunity to watch Television but there is a reality show that I record every season, Survivor.  Approximately 30 contestants from all walks of life are taken to a remote island in a country outside of the United States and divided into two teams where they will compete in physical and mental challenges intermittently over a period of 39 days.  At the conclusion of each team game the losing team votes one of the team members out of the game and this continues until they’re down to three people, all of whom have a shot at winning a million dollars based upon how well they schemed, connived, lied and/or cheated to “survive” to the end of the game.   The odds of winning are 1 in 30.  The primary reasons I find this reality shows intriguing is because it demonstrates how far individuals are willing to go to obtain a goal.  For example: they can only bring the clothes on their backs and prescription glasses.  Each team is given canteens to fetch fresh water; one kettle pot; a bag of white rice which is expected to last 15 grown adults for 39 days; and flint to “make fire”. 

 The host of the show, Jeff Probst, says every season that “fire represents life on Survivor”.  Just as fire is essential to the contestants and represents life of this reality show, it is essential to our survival, not just in the western world but in general.  It is used for warmth, cooking and most of all illuminating in-door and outdoor areas: small, medium and large.

There are a variety of ways to illuminate an area.  For example:  strobe light; candles; disco lights; light bulbs (black light, flourescents, LEDs, night lights, chandeliers) fire (campfire, torch, bonfire); flashlight, light sticks, lanterns, headlights for a vehicle; street lights; lighthouse for ships and boats, etc.  Where there is no light there is absolute darkness and that darkness can be the catalyst to immeasurable danger.  Can you imagine driving down a street or the highway with no headlights or street lights? Or trying to cook in total darkness.  Oh snap, if you’re in total darkness, that means you wouldn’t have fire (stove or microwave) to prepare the food.  Shoot, you couldn’t even keep your food fresh without fire (electricity) unless of course you knew how to pack your meat in salt.  So it goes without saying that we need light, but not just any light, we need the right type of light and that’s what I want to talk about today.   

Last Thursday after completing my Declaration I went to the gym and to my delight it was relatively empty.  I mounted an Elyptical machine, closed my eyes and got lost in the collective prayer and my workout.  My Favorite Book says that we should “watch as well as pray” so every now and then I opened my eyes to see if anyone had come near me and to my cotninued delight no one had invaded my divinely ordained space so I continued to pray outloud just above a whisper.  As we ended the collective worship I opened my eyes, placed my phone on mute and an older woman, we’ll call her Darlene, walked up to me and playfully said:  “You can’t hide.  We see you over here in the corner, on the last machine on the end in the back of the gym” and at that we both immediately started to giggle like we were long time friends or youngsters in school.  Believe it or not I was speechless because I was so tickled that she clearly stopped her workout to come and tell me she saw my light shinging, I mean she was “watching me.”  As the giggles started to cease, she turned and began to walk away and I said: “Hey, what’s your name” to which she responded “Darlene” and I introduced myself.  As she walked away, I said “Lord, what was that about?”  And he dropped this little word in my spirit: “This Little Light of Mine”.

 I grew up Pentecostal and attended a Church of God in Christ from the time I was born.  During my early childhood I participated in auxiliaries like the Sunshine Band, YPWW (Young People’s Willing Workers); Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, etc.  I cannot remember which auxiliary taught me this song, but it popped up during my quiet time:  This little light of mine.  Obviously we didn’t and still don’t walk around with physical lights that are turned on intermittently.  The light referred to was/is our spiritual light, the lives we live in the marketplace -- the secular world, whether it is our job, business, school, sports arena, doctor’s office, hospital, retail stores, movie theatre, restaurant, financial institution, courthouse, travelling, commuting, etc.

However, our lights will not shine properly if we don’t learn to: “Let It Go”.  EK Dawson did an amazing job on Saturday and Sunday about the importance of making a choice to “Let It Go”.  What?  The drama, un-forgiveness, self-hatred, etc.  ReVonda took it a step further during yesterday’s declaration by sharing a step she took to write a letter to her mother which allowed her to “Let It (un-forgiveness) Go” towards her mother.  Was ReVonda’s light out for all those years that she held onto the un-forgiveness?  No, she was still able to do some things, but her light was dim.  It wasn’t nearly as bright as it is today.  Sweetie, that light is so bright it’s almost blinding, which is why if you listened intently, you were able to see the truth.

So you won’t think I’m making things up about the “light”, I’m going to use the number one best seller’s book (which also happens to be my Favorite Book) as a reference.  The author of this particular passage is a very humble man who was a carpenter by trade.  His “hand-work” was absolutely incredible, his knowledge was something that was out of this world and he was one of the most compassionate individuals I have ever read about.  As knowledgeable as he was, he lived a simple life built and repaired physical homes, he also built and repaired spiritual homes and he was in high demand all of the time.  Listen to what he said:

Matthew 5:13-16 (NLT):  “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.  “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.  No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. 

While my key text is verses 14-16, I felt compelled to speak about verse 13.  Salt in those days had two primary uses.

1.     The primary use was as a preservative.

a.     They did not have refrigeration so salt was used as a preservative.

b.     When meat is butchered it will soon begin to putrefy because of the surface bacteria.

c.      Salt kills the bacteria and preventing the rapid putrification.

2.     The second use was for flavoring. Bringing out or enhancing the flavor of food.

a.     On occasion when cooking grits, oatmeal or rice, I have ocassionally forgotten the salt.  The taste was bland, flat.  I’m frowning now just thinking about it.

b.     Have you ever tried eating potatoes without salt. They taste completely different.

I believe the comparison that Jesus used can be easily understood.  Just as meat can putrefy due to surface bacteria and rot without some type of preservative or purifying process, so can the world.   As Believers, we help to bring about that purification by sharing the gospel, performing acts of kindness, bringing hope to others on Make it Happen Mondays; Tell it Tuesdays; Wait While We wait Wednesday – as we serve others; Thankful Thursdays; Fantastic Fridays, Super Saturdays and Sanctified Sundays.  Being the “peculiar people” we are, nonbelievers should look to us to add the spice that charges the atmosphere as opposed to garbage, drama, gloom and doom.  They can get that kind of stuff wholesale.  Natural salt that has lost it’s flavor is absolutely useless.  So is a Believer that has lost his/her effectiveness due to un-forgiveness, having a form of godliness, un-confessed sin, drinking their own Kool-Aid, not applying the word, etc.

Living for Jesus should bring zest and flavor into one’s life.  We should bring excitement and energy with us, even when we’re going through and facing drama. 

Lastly, one final word about salt:

·       Have you ever noticed how flat pop-corn is without salt?

·       Have you noticed how thirsty you get after eating a bag of salted potato chips?

·       How thirsty you get after eating salted peanuts?

·       Just as we are thirsty after eating salty items as described above, our lives “zesty” saved lives should cause other people to thirst for a true relationship with Jesus Christ.

I’m way over time, we’ll pick it up tomorrow

In His Excellent Favor

Tania not Tanya