Illumination

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

ILLUMINATION

Matt 5:14-16

14 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 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. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

NIV

There does not appear to be any other way to see this then the plain truth. Jesus may have pointed to the sun when he was telling those who were listening to him that they were to now illuminate the minds of others about the truth of the gospel message. This is also his message to those of us today who follow him. It is our calling to illuminate the minds of those who do not know Jesus, as well as bring to light the truth, as we are led or inspired by the Spirit, to other believers. Is this not what the calling is upon our local pastors as well as those with the gift of teaching? But it is also upon all of us as we all are called to not just be the light of the world, but to build each other up in the faith.

1 Thess 5:10-11

 11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

NIV

Therefor we should be the giving light to all men, both those of the world, but also those in the house, our fellow believers as well as those we live with. So we are to be people who illuminate the minds of others with the truth of the gospel doing it in such a manner that all men may hear us. This idea about seeing our good deeds is a horse of another color. It might appear that it would mean we should go about doing good deeds before men, whatever the good deeds are is the question. Are the good deeds acts of humanitarian deeds? Are the good deeds acts of service in the church? Are the good deeds acts of benevolence? What is interesting is the Greek word translated works is actually not plural, but singular. We are therefore admonished to let our light shine before men so they can see our good work. This is not like the good deeds other men do, such as the humanitarian or benevolent acts of the humanists which leads to them being praised for their great acts. This is a work which brings praise for God.  That would imply we are not just of do good works, or deeds, but that the one good work we can do is accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and this is the act which creates the light within us that we shine before men. This would simply mean living out our faith out loud. Not hiding the fact we are believers in Jesus. This would also imply that we do not allow the ideologies of the world to infiltrate our lives, but that we infiltrate the ways of the world. We illuminate the world.