Today’s Podcast
Today’s Bible reading plan:
Read it in a year – Matthew 3-4
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Matthew 5:15-16
Jesus: Similarly it would be silly to light a lamp and then hide it under a bowl. When someone lights a lamp, she puts it on a table or a desk or a chair, and the light illumines the entire house. You are like that illuminating light. Let your light shine everywhere you go, that you may illumine creation, so men and women everywhere may see your good actions, may see creation at its fullest, may see your devotion to Me, and may turn and praise your Father in heaven because of it.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
Jesus said we are like an illuminating light. Light dispels darkness. Not the other way around. If you ever study the properties of light, you discover there is no such thing as darkness. It’s really a word we made up to describe the absence of light. Just like we made up the word cold to describe the absence of heat. Heat and light describe energy, power, something that you cannot see and really no one can truly understand completely, but we see the effects of it all around us.
Light comes from our sun and warms our planet to just the right temperature for our survival. It excites the rods and cones on our retina and sends electrical impulses to our brain so we can interpret those signals into patterns of light and dark and different colors so we can “see”. Light gives us those incredible capabilities because of the wave and particle properties it possesses.
But darkness? Nonething. Darkness is just the absence of those wave and particle properties that give life and light and heat to the universe. A single candle can be seen for miles on a clear night. Why? Because light dispels the darkness. It pushes through the vacuum of nothingness and excites the senses like nothing else can. It takes away the fear of night because just a little light dispels the darkness.
When we come to know Christ, His light shines on us and in us. We begin to understand the truth of His words and we no longer fear the darkness around us because His light dispels that darkness. We know we will be victorious over the tempter of our souls if we just follow the light ahead of us. We can feel the warmth and joy that comes from the presence of His light. And when we have His light, the words of this verse make so much more sense because not only will His light illumine us, but we have an opportunity to let His light in us, illumine others.
So Jesus asks, “Who would hide a lamp under a bowl?” It would be a silly thing to do. When He shines His light on us and illumines our heart, our minds, our inner thoughts, He wants us to let His light shine in us so that others see it. He wants us to live as He would in a world that sorely needs His light. People run around blindly because they live in darkness. Satan puts blinders on the men and women of this world to shut out the light and so people grope around trying to find their way in the dark. But as God’s light, we can help them see the world differently. We can help them find hope and life and light for themselves by introducing them to the source of it all.
We can’t share that light if we hide our Christianity, though. We can’t share His light if we try to cover up who we follow. We can’t be a light to the world if we just attend church every once in a while and then look and act like the world the rest of the time. If we expect to be a light to those around us, we must demonstrate Christ’s love, grace, and mercy to those around us. We must show Him to the world through our good works.
Good works don’t save us, but are a natural outflow of the grace He extends to us. If we try to hide the love He gives to us, we will be like a candle trapped under a glass. Soon the oxygen is consumed and the flame goes out. The light is gone. To keep our light burning, we need to let it shine so others can see it. Hiding it means it will snuff out our own light. God doesn’t do it, but we snuff it out ourselves because we refuse to let it shine in the open air as light is meant to do.
So listen to Jesus words. “Let your light shine everywhere you go, that you may illumine creation, so men and women everywhere may see your good actions, may see creation at its fullest, may see your devotion to Me, and may turn and praise your Father in heaven because of it.”
Let Jesus’ light in you become a conflagration that consumes you and points others to Him giving Him praise, turning others to Him, seeing creation at its fullest.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.