Shine Jesus’ Light
“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. People do not light a lamp and put it under the bushel basket; rather, they put it on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.”
Matthew 5:14-15
One of the fondest memories from my childhood is reading the newspaper at the breakfast table with my father. As my dad sipped his coffee, he would methodically peel away sections of the paper, and I sat waiting for him to hand me the only section in which I was interested: the sports page. Now, this was something. As a young man, I was mostly a disinterested reader — except for the sports page. In a pre-internet world, the sports page offered valuable insight into the latest scores and news from my favorite teams.
Such was my introduction to following the news. As I got older, my interest in all types of news mushroomed and I started to read everything from the front page to the obituaries. That said, these days I do find reading, listening and watching the news a bit challenging. Perhaps it is due to my age. Perhaps it’s the polarization taking place culturally and politically. Perhaps the news itself has become more polemical in recent years. Don’t get me wrong; I still enjoy the news, and I probably consume more of it than I should.
Yet, much of the content is negative. From a Christian perspective, this brings to mind the brokenness of our world. It is a reminder that all is not as it should be. This is nothing new. In Jesus’s day, there was much strife, conflict and turmoil, too. This is why Jesus instructs His disciples to be “light,” because, in his day, as in our own, there was darkness. And, if you don’t believe that the darkness is real, well, just turn on the news!
Yet, of course, the antidote to darkness is light. And it is “light” that Jesus calls us to be. It sounds simple enough and exciting too — I mean, who doesn’t want to brighten up a dark world? Yet, the challenge to be light can be overwhelming. As Christians, it is important to realize the source of the light. In the prologue to John’s Gospel, he tells us that “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.” (John 1:5) This is a reference to Jesus Christ, who is the light of the world.
So that we can be the light Jesus is calling us to be, I encourage you to become familiar with the light and to walk in the light. We do this by growing closer to Christ. This is the secret to allowing the light of Christ to shine in us and through us. This will not only give us a different perspective when reading the news, but will allow us to shine the light of Christ in the darkest places we encounter.
