If you didn’t grow up in a Christian home, chances are that you didn’t come to faith through a message heard on radio or TV, read in a magazine article, or heard in a debate. No, it’s likely a believer in Jesus entered your life and provided spiritual illumination beyond this world.
Jesus predicted as much. God is described as light (1 John 1:5). Jesus, the light of the world, shone with this light (John 1:5-9; 8:12). And, like a flame that is passed from candlewick to candlewick, He said His people would radiate this light too. “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14), He told His followers.
This is the second of two great callings Jesus gives us. We’re to be salt in the world—preserving it from decay and enhancing whatever is true and good within it (Matthew 5:13)—and we’re to be the world’s light. As salt, we influence society. As light, we influence hearts.
Light attracts. Light purifies. Light reveals. When God’s light shines into our hearts, it reveals our darkness (Matthew 6:23), purifies us from sin (1 John 1:7-9), and makes us beacons to others, drawing them to the Light that now glows within us.
And how do we reveal this Light to others? “Let your good deeds shine out for all to see,” Jesus directs us, “so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:16). Acts of compassion, kindness, patience, and love reveal the character of the One now shining within us (Galatians 5:22-23). This is what it means to glorify God. When our lives mirror God’s life we glorify—reveal—Him. And He is a most glorious God. That’s why people praise Him when they see our good works.
So go, reveal Him. In word and deed, be the light of your corner of the world.
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: Acts 8:1-25
More:
Read Ephesians 5:8-17 to discover more about living a light-filled life.
Next:
How have you seen God shine through others? What light from God might others glimpse in you today?
Gene on October 18, 2012 at 7:11 am
Lord, help me to be light to others in this world like those who followed you and were light to me. Amen.
tom felten on October 18, 2012 at 11:16 am
Great prayer, Gene!
tom felten on October 18, 2012 at 11:22 am
I like what Rebecca Pippert wrote in “Our of the Saltshaker”: “As people discovered Jesus’ profound humanness, they began to recognize His deity. God’s holiness became shattering and penetrating as Jesus confronted people on their very own level of humanity. But the point is that it took both, His radical identification and His radical difference, to change the world. So it will be for us.”
sheridan voysey on November 1, 2012 at 5:01 am
Oh, I love that. Radical identification and radical difference. Now to live it…
songoftriumph on October 18, 2012 at 12:01 pm
How true! I still remember being with Christians before I had come to Christ… I watched them and saw the joy and peace they had in their lives and finally said to them, “I want Jesus in my life!”. I thank God for those friends and their willingness to share their faith with me. Lord, teach me and show me the opportunities for me to do the same!
tom felten on October 18, 2012 at 1:38 pm
Thanks for sharing, songoftriumph. It’s incredibly winsome to see people living out the joy of life in Jesus!
sheridan voysey on November 1, 2012 at 5:02 am
I love hearing stories like this. Just goes to show that Jesus knew what he was talking about, doesn’t it?
winn collier on October 25, 2012 at 1:33 pm
‘Light attracts.’ Simply two words, with rich truth. Thanks.