“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16

Let Your Light Shine

These words are red in my Bible so I know that it is Jesus talking and that it is important! Jesus in Matthew 5 has just given us all the “Blessed are’s” and then He talks about how we are the salt of the earth. Jesus then starts talking about light. For some reason my interest is peaked when He talks about light.

I don’t like dark rooms. The first thing I do when I enter a dark room is turn on the light and open the shades on the windows. I drove my co-workers crazy because I would come into their office and open the shades on their windows! Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:14 that we are the light of the world. As my youngest daughter says, “Wait…what?”

We are to be the light of the world. This means we are to be the representatives of Jesus here in this dark world in which we live. We were camping this fall in our trailer and there was a couple camped next to us. I could tell by the way they treated us that they were Christians. It made me wonder if the people I meet day to day can tell I am a lover of Christ by my words and actions.

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works….” What kind of good works can we do in our day-to-day lives that show God’s light? I think being kind to everyone you come across is a bright light. We can show love to those people that are unlovable or make you uncomfortable. One of my favorites is showing those people who are serving you that they are important and appreciated. We must make sure that these good works glorify our Father in heaven.

As this holiday season begins, let us make sure that we are not so hurried that we can’t stop to connect with people we meet in our everyday lives. Let them see our lights shine so that we glorify our Father in heaven each day.

Lord, so often I am running about my own business. Please open my eyes daily so that I can see the ways I can shine Your light in this dark world. Let my actions reflect You rightly. And please Father, help me to love the unlovable and those people who make me uncomfortable so that You would be glorified. Amen.