“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.”
To answer our title’s question, Jesus said that we, His people, are the light of the world. Actually, He was talking to His disciples, but He means us as well. Does it humble you a little bit to think of yourself as having the responsibility of being the light of the world? It does humble me, and it should humble you as well. I must admit that when I get up in the morning and look at myself in the mirror, I am not inclined to say to myself, “you are the light of world.” I feel better about it when I realize that the light that shines from me to the world is not actually mine. In John 8:12 Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.” The light that people see in our lives is the light of Christ. Christ’s light from us is like moonlight. The moon does not have luminary qualities. Moonlight is actually reflected sunlight. Pardon me, but the preacher in me can’t help but write the following: “The light that shines from us is reflected ‘Sonlight.’” But that doesn’t mean that we have no responsibility in the matter. In Matthew 5:16 Jesus said: Let your light so shine before men, that they might see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Our Christian light shines, or does not shine, by the way we live. Notice that Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they might see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” We let our lights shine by the good works that we do, and when people see these works they are not supposed to see us, but they are to see God and glorify Him. If the light that we let shine is merely our light, it will not glorify God. For example, if we are serving to enhance ourselves, we cannot bring glory to Him. We need to always question our motivation for service. Are we motivated by our love for Jesus and for people, or are we serving for ourselves? This is a tension that we always live under as Christian servants. This does not mean that we should not get personal satisfaction out of what we do for the Lord. It is very satisfying to me when I preach a sermon and people get something out of it and tell me so. But personal satisfaction is not taking the glory from God. If in the sermon they only saw me, they did not get a whole lot, but if they had an experience with God and it changed their lives in some way, they gained a lot. The same could be said of any service that you render for Jesus. If you sing a special in church and people applaud and enjoy what you have done, be satisfied that what you did was a blessing, but give the glory to God and they will too. I could go on and say the same about teaching a Sunday School class, being an usher, being president of the women’s mission program, etc. But our service for Jesus goes beyond what we do in church. We are to let our lights shine in our daily lives. People need to see that light where we work. You work with people who need the Lord and they need to see His light in you. People need to see that light where we play or where we shop - wherever. If they do not see that light in us, they will not listen to what we have to say about Jesus. They will bring glory to Jesus when they see Him at work in our lives. Jesus tells us that we are the light of the world because He wants to encourage us to go out and let that light shine. If we will let that light loose to people around us, they can’t help but see it. In Matthew 5:15 Jesus said that “a city set on a hill cannot be hid.” We need to let our lights shine as though we were a “city set on a hill” and people will inevitably see Jesus and give the glory to God. I pray that this article will bless you and help you to be even more aware of Christ’s light in you. It is of utmost importance that we be His lights. Go out into your life and be the light of Christ to those around you. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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