Glow In the Dark

Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace.
Luke 1:78-79 NLT

I am reminded of this Scripture every time I see the sun piercing through the cloud cover as though it were an incredible spotlight behind a curtain with holes and rips and tears. I observe in awe the transformation in appearance of literally anything that the light touches as though it was set free to be alive - truly alive!

Matthew 5, in The Message reads, You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives.

Okay, so we go to church and we pay our tithes and offerings and we’re not out purposefully sinning every day and we pray. Are we doing enough? Are we? We're here to shine and be generous with our lives!

Well, the question then is, how are we instructed to be generous with our lives? Let’s read in Isaiah 58, beginning with verse 2 (The Message). They're busy, busy, busy at worship, and love studying all about me. To all appearances they're a nation of right-living people— law-abiding, God-honoring. They ask me, 'What's the right thing to do?' and love having me on their side. But they also complain, ‘Why do we fast and you don't look our way? Why do we humble ourselves and you don't even notice?'

God Eternal is quick to tell us:
"This is the kind of fast day I'm after: to break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed, cancel debts. What I'm interested in seeing you do is: sharing your food with the hungry, inviting the homeless poor into your homes, putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad, being available to your own families. Do this and the lights will turn on, and your lives will turn around at once. Your righteousness will pave your way. The God of glory will secure your passage. Then when you pray, God will answer. You'll call out for help and I'll say, 'Here I am.'

"If you get rid of unfair practices, quit blaming victims, quit gossiping about other people's sins, If you are generous with the hungry and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out, Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness, your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight. I will always show you where to go. I'll give you a full life in the emptiest of places— firm muscles, strong bones. You'll be like a well-watered garden, a gurgling spring that never runs dry .You'll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew, rebuild the foundations from out of your past. You'll be known as those who can fix anything, restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate, make the community livable again.” [emphasis mine]

The Light of the World transforms our lives and we become like Him and we should shine enough light to transform the lives around us. Let's restore, rebuild and renovate - you know, glow in the darkness.

Prayer:

Father,

Shine Your light through us. Let us bring glory to Your Name. In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen