LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE
"You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." (Matt. 5:14-16)
WHEN Christ was on Earth, He said: “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12) and “as long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:5). When Christ ascended to the Father, He appointed us to be His ambassadors and representatives on Earth (2 Cor. 5:20). He told us to be “the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14) and we are to shine in such a way that people would see our good works and glorify His Father who is in Heaven (Matt. 5:16). Christians ought to be a reflection of Christ to everyone. Christ, “the Sun of Righteousness” (Mal. 4:2) ought to be shining in and through us. God desires that we “may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom we shine as lights in the world” (Phil. 22:5). We ought to be light to our families, friends, neighbors, and co-workers. We ought not to hide our light by blushing to own and speak His name. David said in the Book of Psalms: "I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness in the great assembly; Indeed, I do not restrain my lips, O Lord, You Yourself know. I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great assembly" (Psalm 40:9-10). God entrusted us with the light of the Gospel and He “set us as lights to the Gentiles, that we should be for salvation to the ends of the earth” (Acts 13:47). The light of Christ should always be emitted through us. When people see us, they ought to see something different about us. Spurgeon said: “A Christian should be a striking likeness of Jesus Christ. You have read lives of Christ, beautifully and eloquently written, but the best life of Christ is his living biography, written out in the words and actions of his people. If we were what we profess to be, and what we should be, we should be pictures of Christ; yea, such striking likenesses of him, that the world would not have to hold us up by the hour together, and say, ‘Well, it seems somewhat of a likeness;’ but they would, when they once beheld us, exclaim, ‘He has been with Jesus; he has been taught of him; he is like him; he has caught the very idea of the holy Man of Nazareth, and he works it out in his life and every-day actions.’”
Here are a few examples of people in the Bible who lived exceptional lives and who let their light shine:
Enoch walked with God for three hundred years and pleased God. (Gen. 5:22; Heb. 11:5).
Noah was a just man, blameless in his generations and he walked with God. (Gen. 6:9).
Abraham was a man of faith (Rom. 4:16-22) and was called the “friend of God” (James 2:23).
Isaac’s light shined and his enemies said of him: “We have certainly seen that the LORD is with you” (Gen. 26:28).
Joseph was a man of integrity, uprightness, and faithfulness. Joseph’s light shined being a steward serving his master. He is an exceptional example to us of how we ought to be at our jobs and vocations. He also is an example of uprightness by shunning evil and fleeing sin and temptation (Gen. 39:7-12). Pharaoh said of him: “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?” (Gen. 41:38).
Moses was the meekest of all men on the face of all the earth. (Num. 12:3)
David was “a man after God’s own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14).
Job was “a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil” (Job 1:8) and who prayed for his family always (Job 1:5).
Daniel was loyal to His God despite persecution and an “excellent spirit” was found in him. (Daniel 6:3).
Peter and John were so bold and zealous for Christ that the people “marveled and they realized that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13).
Stephen was a man “full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom” (Acts 6:3) and was like Christ in forgiving his enemies (Acts 7:60).
This little
light of mine,
I'm gonna let it shine
This little light of mine,
I'm gonna let it shine
This little light of mine,
I'm gonna let it shine
Let it shine,
Let it shine,
Let it shine.
Hide it under a bushel? No!
I'm gonna let it shine
Hide it under a bushel? No!
I'm gonna let it shine
Hide it under a bushel? No!
I'm gonna let it shine
Let it shine,
Let it shine,
Let it shine.