God’s magnificent light can shine on others through my life today

By Dean Collins

Living away from the city, I can see the brightness of the stars at night. Some nights the stars are so bright I can see the ground clearly and walk around outside without fear of tripping. I imagine the sky was a lot like that when God told Abraham to look at the sky above and count the stars and that his descendants would number as many as the stars above. That blessing on Abraham continues today as anyone who follows Jesus is counted in the family of God.

His light, our light

Again and again, when we turn to the New Testament we read about light. Jesus said it this way: “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. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your Heavenly Father.”

As followers of Jesus, we are told we will be seen because our actions create light and the light reveals the goodness and glory of God. Jesus is quite adamant that our goal is reflecting the glory of God. He also said that even our giving should be such that the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing. Again, the purpose of the good we do and the generosity we share is not to draw praise to self but to bring light to others and glory to God.

Spotlight or shining light?

Unfortunately, our culture is increasingly driven to promote self. Self-promotion is not new human behavior, but technology available today makes it highly visible. Some people seem to enjoy the spotlight and like it clearly focused on them. There is nothing wrong with recognition. I don’t think Jesus minds if someone thanks you when you have done something kind. However, it is a different thing if you do the kind act so you will be recognized. Our acts of kindness, love, mercy, and grace are to bring attention to God more than attention to us. And our motivation should always be that God is glorified and Jesus is exalted through our lives every day and always.

In Philippians 2 Paul commends us to live clean and innocent lives so we will appear as shining lights in our dark world. The shining light, though, is not the motivation; it is the result. In 2 Corinthians Paul quotes Genesis 1 and God’s creation of light to the light of God that comes to us as we see Jesus and choose to follow him: “We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves” (2 Corinthians 4:7).

Jesus calls us to be light and to demonstrate his glory by our good deeds. Paul explained that we have this light, but we have fragile and cracked containers to hold the light. God likely knew us well enough to see that if our containers were not fragile, we would probably just hold onto the light and not share it. And he knew that the power of his love and glory is best noticed when people as broken as you and I end up doing good and great things. 

Lord of creation, thank you for speaking light into our darkness at creation, at your incarnation, and at your resurrection. Worthy is your name! We are amazed that you would choose us to reveal your glory to others broken as we are. Our hearts overflow with gratitude.

Forgive us when we do anything that seeks to promote self over you. Forgive us when we hide your light due to selfishness and sin. We offer ourselves to you today. Use our acts of kindness, love, and mercy today to reveal your love to someone who is yet to be transformed by the gift of forgiveness and eternal life made available in Jesus. We pray that others would see you clearly and only as we spread your love today. Amen.

Your time with God’s Word
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭14‬-‭16‬; Philippians‬ ‭2‬:‭12‬-‭15; Genesis‬ ‭15‬:‭5‬-‭6‬; 2 Corinthians‬ ‭4‬:‭6‬-‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash

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