Being a Light for Christ
When schools around the globe sent their students home for health and safety during the coronavirus pandemic, their buildings and stadiums stood empty. While acknowledging many were experiencing greater afflictions from the virus, teachers sought ways to show their students they missed them and to encourage them to press on through a difficult time. Many schools initiated what they called the “Be the Light” challenge, in which they burned the empty stadium’s lights each night.
During His earthly life, Jesus issued His own kind of “be the light” challenge, saying that we who follow Him are to “let [our] light shine before others” (Matthew 5:16). His charge had a loftier goal than encouragement or moral support; instead, our willingness to reveal the light He’s put in us shows the watching world who God is. The way we live our lives, in both word and deed, reveals the hope Jesus gives us, making it visible to all those around us, like a lamp on a stand.
Jesus calls us “the light of the world” and challenges us to illuminate the paths of others with His light radiating through us when they’re walking a dark road. For those who don’t yet know the hope Jesus offers, sharing His light through the way we live can point them toward God as the source of all hope.
By Kirsten Holmberg - Our Daily Bread Ministries
Matthew 5:13-16
Salt and Light
13“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
14“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
