This Little Light Pt. 2

Yesterday I told you about my encounter with Darlene from the gym who walked up to me out of the blue while I was minding my own business and said: “You can’t hide, we see you …” The irony is that I wasn’t really trying to hide, I just wanted to be by myself so that I could get my cardio in on the Elyptical machine, participate in the collective prayer and our Love Live and Victory dialogue after the prayer.  I love the convenience of my smart phone, but I don’t want other people listening to my conversations and I certainly don’t want to hear there’s but that’s a different subject altogether.  As a result of that short exchange with Miss Darlene, it led me to memories of learning children’s gospel songs while attending Vacation Bible School, YPWW (Young People’s Willing Workers), Sunshine Band, and Sunday School, one of which was “This Little Light ofMine”.  Such a simple but powerful declaration.  

That song is a child’s interpretation of Matthew 5:14-15 (NLT): 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.   I shared this text yesterday but I also focused on verse 13 which compares Believers to salt.  Not “salty” as we use the term today but as:

·       A spiritual preservative to the world by interceding for them; and

·       Bringing flavor, zest with us wherever we go.  When we walk into a room we should change and charge the atmosphere with our light, our energy, the fire for Christ and for life that we have.

o   A youngster by the name of Jeremiah is an contributor to my Favorite Book.  One of the passages he wrote is:  But if I say I’ll never mention the LORD or speak in his name, his word burns in my heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones!  Jeremiah 20:9 (NLT)

 And that’s a great place to continue:

The world is in a state of darkness.  This was and still is the basic Christian premise.

o   The world always focuses on enlightenment (e.g. self, surroundings, spitiuality, etc.).

o   It’s oxymoronic because they are in perpetual darkneess and some of them think they are becoming enlightened but they really aren’t.  Instead of moving upward, it’s like they are mocking time while the world rotates past them giving the illusion that they are actually moving forward when they are only digging themselves into a deeper pit.

·       Society founded  "enlightenment" in the 18th century and subscribed to the belief that knowledge is light.

·       The tragedy was and is the emphasis on one aspect of knowledge -- things – materialistic and biological.

o   The problem is that sinful man doesn’t know what to do with knowledge.

§  In many instances it is exploited, sold to the highest bidder and used for selfish purposes that could harm the average Joe Brown or Ann Smith

o   As a result knowledge of human relationships has never been worse (e.g. marriages, siblings, parental, etc.)

o   The moral fabric of our belief system has deteriorated primarily because man depends on his own knowledge which is absurd because it’s like a blind man driving a double decker tour bus full of people site seeing with blinders and hoods on.  It’s insane.

·       Philosophers, educators and politicians have failed.  They are great at analyzing but no solution is offered.  They don’t know the real problem nor how to solve it so they filibuster and/or throw money at it (the problems) or at least give the appearance that they are.

The Christian (The Light) has the only answer to the darkness but sadly some of us intentionally hide our light out of ignorance and/or selfishness.  Can you imagine where you would be if the person who shared Christ with you decided to press mute; or if they decided to give in to the challenges that they were facing and call it quits.  I don’t know about you but that’s a scarry thought for me.

Referencing my Favorite Book, if we skip over to John 8:12 (NLT) we see Jesus talking to a group of lawyers who had confronted him about the following statement: Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” 

I don’t know if you realize it or not, but that’s a huge statement, “I am the light of the world”.  In otherwords there is nothing brighter, better or bigger than him, Jesus, the son of man and the son of God who was a humble carpenter that helped to build and repairs homes, etc. but he did far more spiritual building and repairng than he did commercial.

Jesus isn’t just the light to the Jews, he is the light of the entire world, which includes you and me.  The visible light of the world is the sun, and Christ is the Sun of righteousness. One sun enlightens the whole world, so does one Christ and we don’t need any other light because there is no room for any additional light. Christ in calling himself the light expresses: 1) What he is in himself-most excellent and glorious; 2) What he is to the world-the fountain of light, enlightening every man.   Can you imagine the darkness and chaos without the sun! So would it be without Christ by whom light came into the world.

If Christ is the light, then it is our duty to follow him, to submit ourselves to his guidance, and in every thing take directions from him, in the way that leads to happiness. Many follow false lights that lead them to destruction; but Christ is the true light.  It’s not enough to look at this light we must follow it, believe in it, and walk in it, for it is a light to our feet, not our eyes only. Secondly, it is the happiness of those who follow Christ that won’t walk in darkness. They won’t be left destitute of those instructions in the way of truth which are necessary to keep them from destroying themselves and those around them. They will have the light of life, that knowledge and enjoyment of God which will be to them the light of spiritual life in this world and of everlasting life in the other world, where there will be no death nor darkness. Follow Christ, and we will undoubtedly be happy in both worlds. Follow Christ, and we will follow him to heaven.   Do you realize that Jesus was the original Tweeter?  The technology is just now catching up to him.

I’m out of time, we'll pick it up tomorrow.

In His New Excellence

Tania Not Tanya