A Bright and Shining Light
January 23, 2020
Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. Philippians 2:14-15 NLT
When I was a child, we caught lightning bugs at night. They were miniature flashlights, breaking the darkness of our street without streetlights. Inside it was a different story. They lost their fascination indoors. Their lights blended in with the surroundings. Everything was lit, so they were simply part of the atmosphere of light.
That’s the deep principle of our witness that Paul shares here. So often we bemoan the wickedness and darkness of our world. No doubt, these are the places God wants to change. But instead of feeling discouraged and overwhelmed, a right perspective is that the more broken the world is that surrounds us, the more vital and attractive is our light. In a workplace filled with corruption, complaining, arguing, and criticism, our purity and spirit cannot be overlooked. We don’t have to speak; our attitude and perspective calls attention to itself. The darker the situation, the brighter the light of Jesus shining through our lives shows up.
It’s interesting that so much noise has been made over the years by Christians about “no prayer in schools.” Real believers can’t be prevented from praying anywhere. Their hearts are in tune with God, calling out to Him from everywhere. Reciting a prayer together at school likely did some good. But relatively few people saw transformation or experienced the power of God through something that was rote, memorized, could be repeated without understanding.
However, literally thousands upon thousands were first drawn to Jesus because of the influence of a godly teacher who shone like a light in the fearful dark days of middle school. Thousands trace their faith to a friend who seemed so different and loved them so well when they were students together that they chose to follow Christ with them.
The darkness gives us our best opportunity to shine; shine, not preach. Our words will never shine in the darkness like our heartfelt, consistent love and pure lives.
- Pray: Jesus, this little light of mine. I’m gonna let it shine today. I am going to quit complaining about my environment and realize that the darker and more difficult it is, through the Holy