The Encourager
“Let Your Light Shine”
by Jeff Curtis
“You are the light of the world.” These words tell us that, as Christians, we not only participate in God’s plans and purposes but, to some extent, we also share in the characteristics of God and Jesus. John said, “God is light” (1John 1:5). Jesus said, “I am the Light of world” (John 8:12). Through these verses, Jesus points to His followers and says, “YOU are the light of the world.”
What did Jesus mean by the expression? “You are the light of the world?” Consider a contrast between salt and light. The primary purpose of salt in those days was largely negative: to prevent decay. The primary purpose of light is positive: to dispel darkness.
Jesus’ imagery tells us something about the world and something about Christians. This world is in darkness. Those in the world don’t like to admit this. Sometimes when people reject the Bible, they say, “We live in an enlightened age.” You may have heard the expression “New evidence has come to light.” The fact, however, is that this world is shrouded in the darkness of sin. Every intellect not illuminated by God’s holy Word is a darkened intellect.
The world actually prefers darkness. Light exposes “the hidden things of darkness” (1Corinthians 4:5; KJV). Jesus said that the people of His day “loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). When I worked in the pest control industry, it was common for people that had roach problems to describe them as running all over the place when the lights would be turned on. Roaches don’t like the light – and neither does a sinful world. Nevertheless, light is precisely what this world needs.
Our text not only declares that the world is in darkness, but it also says that Christians are the light of this world. Christians are the ones who have the light. If you know Jesus and the Bible, then you know more about marriage, parenting, how to deal with problems, and what life is all about more than an PhD who is not a Christian.
As Jesus’ followers, we are to let our lights shine. We let it shine by leading the right kind of life. We let it shine by teaching God’s Word.
I don’t like the moral and spiritual darkness in the world. The darkness can be so thick the it discourages us, and we feel like giving up. We have to remind ourselves that light has no purpose if there is no darkness. That is why God put us in this place at this time.
An important passage is Philippians 2:15,16. Here Paul challenged his readers to be “become blameless and [a]harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.”
The blacker the darkness is, the more brilliant the light appears. An appliance that burns a bulb all through the day is not bright. In the daytime, the light is not even noticeable. At night, however, after our eyes have adjusted to the darkness, we can see everything in the room, due the soft glow of the appliance bulb. Even a tiny light has value when everything else is dark.
We are not “light” because of some inherent illuminating power within us. Rather, we are “light” because of our connection with the sources of light: God and Jesus. Christians are comparable to the moon as it reflects the light of the sun. We may also be compared to light bulbs that shine because of an external power source. But Jesus has greatly honored us with the words “You are the light of the world.”
