Shining Your Light?

 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth 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.

-Matthew 5:14-16 (KJV)

I've used this illustration before, and will probably use it many times again. How often do you get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, or to go and get a drink, then stub your toe on the bed because it's dark in the house? Quite often, if you're like me. We live in a world that is stuck, and overcome, in the darkness of sin. Jesus gives us some important information about our role in the dark world of sin. Remember a few weeks ago, we were studying in John 17, and one of the verses read, "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil." (John 17:15). Jesus didn't ask that we, at the moment of salvation, be taken out of the world, but that we should be kept from evil. Why? Because we, you and me, have a job to do.

Jesus said in Matthew 14, "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid." We are the light of the world. When travelling on the interstate system, you can go for many, many miles without an exit. Then, when the lights of the next exit come into view, it brings some excitement and relief. You know that an exit is coming, and one that has food, a place to rest, and a place to refuel. That is how we are to be in our world. We are to show others that an exit from the life of sin is coming. A place to rest and refuel for the journey. 

Verse 15 says, "Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house." We don't light a candle and then cover it with a box. For our modern times, we don't plug in a lamp, turn it on, and the cover it with a box to keep the light from shining. What purpose would there be in that? What purpose is it for a Christian to keep their light from shining into a lost and hurting world? There is none. He says, in verse 16, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Our light (the way we live our lives) should not be hid under a box. Instead, it should be shined into the world full of the darkness of sin. Too often, though, we keep it hidden, we keep it secret, we keep it from shining any further than me and you.

The question we must ask ourselves is this: Are you allowing your light to shine to the people who need it? Or, are you covering up the light to keep others from seeing it? Think About It.