Today’s Podcast
Today’s Bible reading plan:
Read it in a year – Deuteronomy 1-3
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Luke 8:16-18
Jesus: You wouldn’t light a lamp and cover it with a clay pot. You’re not going to hide it under your bed. No, when you light it, you’re going to put it out in the open so your guests can feel welcome and see where they’re going.
Hidden things will always come out into the open. Secret things will come to light and be exposed. I hope you’re still listening. And I hope you’re listening carefully. If you get what I’m saying, you’ll get more. If you miss My meaning, even the understanding you think you have will be taken from you.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
Jesus’ words remind me of just how powerful and important light is to us. I remember a time when I was in ROTC in college, a buddy and I were on a scouting mission together. We got just a little off track and thought we would get out of the woods and onto some more familiar territory by using a railroad track that bisected the area that enclosed the training area we were supposed to occupy. When we got to the track we decided we would head toward a red signal light we saw in the distance.
Because it was a dark night with no moon, heavy cloud cover, and a light rain falling, we had trouble making out any of the land formations around us. That’s what got us a little disoriented in the first place and caused us to lose our pace count and direction. So when we saw the light in the distance we figured we would be safe and on track once more. We headed that direction.
We didn’t realize then just how far you can see a railroad signal light in the dark. We were accustomed to seeing flashlights and car headlights in the dark. You can see a flashlight a few hundred yards and headlights a mile or so in the weather we were experiencing. But a signal for the railroad? Two hours later at a fairly brisk jog, we seemed no closer to that light than when we started. By then, we knew we were well out of the boundaries of the training area we were supposed to stay in. In fact, we might have even left the installation at that point, but really didn’t know without any landmarks to guide us.
After another hour of moving toward that light, we finally arrived and spent the rest of the night next to that railroad signal. We found out just how bright and how tall those things are. We also felt a lot more secure knowing we would be able to pinpoint our location once the sun came up using that signal along and the terrain around us. We could make it back to our camp from there. We blew the mission. We were embarrassed. But that light helped us make it home. We were happy to have it at 1:30 that morning 45 years ago. I’m so thankful that light was burning and not hidden from view.
Light does that for us. It dispels the darkness and gives us comfort on the darkest nights. It gives us hope and encouragement when it seems there is otherwise none to be had. Light is something we seek and it draws us when we find ourselves in darkness. It pulls us toward it because light tries to bring out the detail we want to see around us. Light comforts us.
But it also reminds us of the second part of the words we’re considering today. “Hidden things will always come out into the open.”
How often have you groped around in the dark for something and then with the flick of a switch, you turn on the light and there the item is right in front of you. I do it all the time. Unfortunately, I’m one of those that need a CPAP or BiPAP when I sleep at night because I have a tendency to stop breathing periodically. But I often put the contraption on in the dark since it’s really easy to operate and I’ve been using it for over ten years. The problem is that it does have a few parts that fit together and if one of those parts happen to slip off, many times I can’t find it in the dark no matter how hard I try. But as soon as I turn the lamp on the nightstand on, I can instantly see that part that lies just beyond my pitiful attempts to find it without that light. Light brings out the hidden things.
The same is true of our lives. Just look at the vitriol that pours out during this political campaign. Look at the candidates’ hidden lives that are coming out in the media on both sides of the aisle. Those evils each have committed are being flashed through the news, twitter, Facebook, and every other electronic media available. Little about their lives over their entire lifetime is being hidden from public view. Even all those alleged sexual assaults from the Republican candidate and the email trail that is shows the selling of favors to our enemies on the part of our Democratic candidate while Secretary of State. Nothing is hidden.
But think of what the final judgment will be like. Not even our thoughts will be hidden on that day. God will expose every act and every thought for the whole world to see. The only question after that display is whether all those acts of disobedience have been forgiven through your repentant prayer. How about it?
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