“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16 (NIV)
God intends for every believer in sweet Jesus to shine forth His light in this dark world – pointing others to our living Savior, in Whom there is no darkness at all – in all our spheres of influence. This can occur sometimes without words rather with actions. It is showing the love and light of Jesus in what we both say and do. This brings Him much glory and us much good.
Contemplate for a moment God and our Lord Jesus as the lights of heaven. Revelation 21:22-23 (NIV) tells us: “I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.” Light in Scripture is the emblem of great joy and beauty. There is nothing of beauty left if the light is gone, Amen? Also, all will be made pristinely clear in the lights of the Lamb and of God our Father. That is why Jesus states in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:22-23 (NIV): “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”
Even the tiniest bit of light can dispel much darkness, Amen? When a light shines it gives direction and points others to the right path – which of course is our Lord Jesus. His desire is for those who believe in Him to reflect His light to all those in our spheres – pointing others to the radiance of His beauty and His overflowing love and joy. Like planets, we are to reflect the Son of Righteousness. We are simply the beams deriving our source of light from Him. How silly a thing to seek to hide our lights when opposition arrives and rears its ugly head. Is our faith really that weak? Yet, while Jesus walked this dusty earth, He was the Lamp that brought us light pointing others to the Father. And as believers in sweet Jesus, that is precisely what we are to be about as well. Those who claim to live in Him must walk as He walked. Jesus did not hide His light rather He let it shine forth brightly. Whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy - Jesus’ bright splendor is in the center of it all. Like our Master, believers are called to shine.
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9 (NIV)