Matthew 5:14-16 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it gives light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance tells us that the word “light” as used here means: the manifestation of God’s self-existent life; divine illumination to reveal and impart life through Christ.
How can we work in the fields we have been sent to if we cannot see where we are going? We need The Holy Spirit of God, the divine illumination, upon us to guide our steps and light our pathway. Who tends fields in the dark? If you cannot see your hand in front of your face, how can we lead those who stand in the dark around us out of the fields we have been sent to?
We walk in The Light of The Word of God, for Jesus Christ is our Light. So, how do we let our Light shine that the world may see Jesus? We actively pursue and obtain a godly lifestyle through the indwelling power of The Holy Spirit. A born-again believer is one who believes wholeheartedly that Jesus Christ is God’s only begotten Son, that He died on the cross to take away the sins of the world, that He was buried in the tomb for three days and rose from the dead on the third day, that He walked out of the grave and was actively seen by hundreds of people before He ascended into heaven to be with His Father again.
As born again believers, whether of Hebrew lineage or Gentile, we are now followers of Christ, Christians. This world that we live in we do not live of: we are, according to Peter, “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; people who praise God continually for calling us out of darkness into His marvellous light”. (1 Peter 2:9)
His marvellous Light. We are in God’s marvellous Light. And it is that Light which should shine through us into the world around us. And where is the world around us? In our homes. The light of God’s Love, Jesus Christ, needs to shine in our homes, our families; that darkness would have no place to enter into.
Beyond, and sometimes within, our homes is our extended families, the families we have married into, the broken families we have left behind, the blended families we have chosen to be a part of. Beyond our familial ties are our workplace bonds: our coworkers and those connected with our workplaces with whom we have contact. That’s where our Light needs to shine.
Our neighbors and our neighborhoods need to see Jesus in our actions and hear His Love in our words. We can preach the gospel of salvation without being preachy. There is no need to be judgmental towards one another when we interact; judgment is God’s job. Our job is to shine the Light of God’s Love into the darkness around us, that others may be drawn to Christ, and become the next generation of believers.
John 3:17 “For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.”
