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| Photo by afasoulis via stock.xchng |
It was just a little soccer ball night-light that miraculously enabled my nearly two-year-old to finally sleep through the night. We had been going through a rough patch of waking up every hour throughout the night. Finally realizing, or at least considering, that he might be afraid of the dark, I spent a whopping $2.99 at Wal-mart. And then our lives were forever changed. A few dollars bought my family some sanity.
And so, after the dust settled with this fiasco, I started thinking about the night-light. What was the big deal? It was just a tiny light. With the main light on in my son’s room, the night-light wasn’t in the least bit visible. But at night, with the lights off in the bedroom, this little light shown incredibly brightly, creating such a notable difference. And although small, this light brought comfort and security to my son.
Then I thought about how often Jesus spoke about light during His ministry on Earth. I looked up the word light and found that it was used over 250 times in the New International Version of the Bible. Right out of the gate, in the first chapter of the first book of the Bible, God made a point to tell us that He separated the lightness and the darkness. In this way, He wanted us to know that light is distinct. It is vastly different from dark.
And then in Mathew 5:14, Jesus proclaims, “You are the light of the world.” I like to think of Jesus smiling as He delivered this line to His disciples. I imagine He was thinking something like this as He taught, “Do you even know how much of a difference you can make in a world full of darkness?” He went on in verses 15 and 16 to say, “A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither 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. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
So WE are to be the light of the world; it is our responsibility to bring light into a darkened world. You can look at this concept as a heavy burden or an incredible privilege. But that’s not really where the lesson stops. And this next part continually blows my mind whenever I think about it. Jesus calls Himself the light. WHAT?? I’m the light AND He’s the light? I don’t feel like I deserve having the same characteristic that is also used to describe Jesus.
But He says in John 1:9, I am “the true light that gives light to everyone coming into the world.” And in John 12:46, He says, “I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.” Wow.
I don’t deserve being called the light. On my own, I just don’t deserve it. But Jesus sacrificed His life for me, so that I may have salvation and in turn, be a light in a darkened world. It’s really that simple. I can be the light because I am reflecting the true light of the Father.
And even though I may sometimes feel as useless as a little soccer ball night-light, I can still make an incredible difference in the life of someone else. We were designed to be the light in a darkened world. So, think about what you can do today to be the light in someone’s life. Whether it’s a phone call, a hand written note, a meal or chatting with a friend over coffee, go do it. Go into the world and be the light. You will make more of a difference than you could ever know.
- Rebekah H.
