Hide it or Shine it

 DEVOTION

2^ND SAMUEL

HIDE IT OR SHINE IT

2 Sam 23:1-4

23:1 These are the last words of David: "The oracle of David son of Jesse, the oracle of the man exalted by the Most High, the man anointed by the God of Jacob, Israel's singer of songs:

2 "The Spirit of the LORD spoke through me; his word was on my tongue. 3 The God of Israel spoke, the Rock of Israel said to me: 'When one rules over men in righteousness, when he rules in the fear of God, 4 he is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness after rain that brings the grass from the earth.'

NIV

David was a man of God, also a mighty warrior, anointed with the arm of God. David is the man whom God testified that He had found a man after His own heart and that he would do whatever God said. Here, David is lifted up, exalted by the Most High. How do we relate to this kind of truth? Are we not also exalted by the Most High, except our righteousness, our exaltation is in Jesus. At present, we surely do not rule over any men; however, we rule over ourselves as we are to have self-control, which is both part of the fruit of the Spirit, as well as it is a trait we are to add to our faith. Because we do fear God, but in Hebrew it is to revere God, see Him as the Most High God, awesome and mighty in power, in fact all-powerful, able to do anything, for there is nothing impossible for Him. When we face that truth, we rule over ourselves by submitting to Jesus, our righteousness. If we live in Jesus, in His righteousness, then we will be like the light of morning at sunrise; we will shine the light of Jesus, for He is the Morning Star, the Light of the world. However, Jesus told us that we are the light of the world, we should shine like the morning sun, brightly shining, reflecting the glory of the Lord. It is almost too much to comprehend, yet if we are living rightly, as we reflect the brilliant shining Glory of God, the Most High, who is the Morning Star, the sun as it rises in the Eastern sky, then we would appear as glorious as God does. The question is, why don’t we? Have we allowed the weight of life to dim our light? We know the darkness of the world, evil, cannot overshadow our light, for we reflect the Light of the world. But it is the weight, the burdens of life, the worries, concerns, the aches and pains, the hurts, sorrows, or anything else that could cause our light to be covered under that bushel. Yet, we are admonished to put it on a lampstand so to give light, to shine the light we reflect from the Light of the world. Yet, he said, we are actually the light now, so we must decide if we are going to hide it or shine it.