June 14th - Luke 8:16
Luke 8:16 Here, Jesus is making an absolutely obvious point. It would be absurd to go the trouble of lighting a lamp and then cover it so it cannot be seen. If you decide to light a lamp, you want its light to shine. So you find a place where the greatest number of people can see it and be helped by the illumination it brings. So much, so obvious. Jesus was clearly saying that if you have already received the light which he came to bring, you need to be sharing it. It would be absurd to accept the light of God’s truth and then act as if it didn’t exist, or was just a private possession. The light needs to shine, so we need to ensure we put it in a prominent place. I wonder what this means for you today. It might mean you take the opportunity to explain to someone how you discovered Jesus to be your light. You may have a very clear opportunity to share the story of how God has transformed your life. Perhaps you will not have such a clear opening. However, we can all still shine the light of Christ. By caring for people and encouraging them, we are able to share the light that God has placed in our lives. We may do this in very different ways, but what matters is that we let our light shine. In our cynical and materialistic society, there is a great deal of negativity about the Christian message. But that must never prevent us from sharing the light. We will want to be wise, sensitive and caring in the way in which we speak but the one thing we cannot do is to put the light under a bowl, or to hide it under our bed. That would be ridiculous! QUESTION In what ways have you been able to share the light of Christ recently? PRAYER Lord Jesus, I worship you because you are the light of the world. Help me to become better at sharing your light with others. Amen