This Little Light of Mine

At church they are starting a series about the sermon on the mount. Today we talked about how God is light and we are supposed to let that light shine, like the old gospel hymn says.

Fromt he Scripture:
John 8:12 "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

Matthew 5:14-16 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone else in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

What does it mean to let our light shine?

2 Corinthians 5:20 "We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us."

James 2:17 "Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."

I've heard preachings on this concept many times. I always felt like this was an all or nothing concept. There are the real Christians - the ones who are involved with the church, people you can count on to pray for you, though imperfect, really seem to have their walk with God under control. Those people are the ones God wants to let their light shine. They are the reflection of God that He wants the world to see.

And then there's me, and others like me. Those of us who are better at some things than others. I don't really have it together, and I'm not a good example of a Christian. I lose my temper too often and swear too much and pray too little. God doesn't want me to reflect Him. At least not yet. Not until I get it down. I'm still a work in progress.

But today, the pastor said something that shattered that idea. He said, what if God's light isn't a spotlight shining in the darkness? Maybe it's like a disco ball with many different hues and shapes. God created us differently, so it makes sense that we would reflect him differently. We can't all be outspoken and called to be pastors. Maybe the world would be a better place if we all just learned to dance together under the disco ball. Some people may shine a little light and some people may shine a big light. We all need to work on our light in our own way.

And of course that makes sense. Even the real Christians are flawed, as are all people. It's hard to look past my own flaws because I have so many of them. I need to focus on the light I do have, nurture and cultivate it, shine it with all my might. And as the rest of the sermon said, be a peacemaker. God can't physically be here, so he wants us to be His hands and feet. The moment we recognize God as our Father, we become a light to someone else. I need to remember that, and really make my light count.