Let The Light Shine

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

LET THE LIGHT SHINE

Mark 4:21-23

21 He said to them, "Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don't you put it on its stand? 22 For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."

NIV

Jesus had just finished explaining to his disciples the parable he just told about the sower and the seeds. Jesus now goes on to tell them that his parables are meant not to hide the truth regarding the kingdom of God, but to shed light on the truth. He is the light of the world and he is not about to hide his light, but to shine it, to put it on its stand and disclose the truth of the grace of God. We could see the stand as the cross and Jesus indeed did expose the truth of the grace of God when he shone his light to the world. But this has more to do with sharing the message about the kingdom. He is telling or teaching his disciples as well as us that because we now have that light within us, that we have the truth about the kingdom of God, that we know the grace of God, Jesus Christ, that we too should not stick our light under a bowl or bed. In our post-modern culture, it would seem this reference could be taken that we should not hide our light in the church building, or hide it within ourselves, being the church. It is really great to get together with all the rest of the body of Christ and worship our Lord. There is certainly something special about being with like-minded people that believe in Jesus and we have that commonality or fellowship. But if that is the one and only place that we shine then what good is it being the light of the world or the salt of the earth? The world, which is the unsaved lost souls that are stumbling around in the dark needs the light to see their way to safety. Who else is going to shine the light of God into their lives, if not us? Sure, we know the Spirit is always about convicting men of their sin, but the convicted still need to be able to see their way to repentance. We can remember our conviction, our searching for a way to overcome the fear of death. I speak of myself alone here. We sought out various other forms of religion, anything but Christianity, for there was no light in me, nor did we find any light in all those who had false gods and/or doctrines. It was not until a follower of Jesus shone his light, the light of Christ into my life, that I began to find hope. Still, it was not until God did this miracle which defied the science that I knew to be true, that I saw the light for myself. But a light was shone on me by a believer to light my path onto to God. Should we not be doing that same thing for other lost souls that will only experience perishing unless we shine the light of Christ into their lives? We cannot hide it, it must be lifted high so all can see the light and find their way. We have the ears to hear, we have the heart to respond and so we will shine the light, as we have that light.