Bright Light or Dim Bulb

Every morning, my wife watches a video that shares a scripture verse and an explanation. Yesterday, I walked into the bedroom during the video and overheard a segment. The man in the video said: "Jesus tells us that we are to be the light of the world."  Well, needless to say, that tripped a trigger in my brain that brought me to God's Word.

The verses the person was quoting and explaining were Matthew 5: 14 – 16. "You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven."

Jesus had begun His ministry at this point, and He was becoming known throughout the area, as we see in Matthew 4: 23 – 25: "Now Jesus began to go all over Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. Then the news about him spread throughout Syria. So, they brought to him all those who were afflicted, those suffering from various diseases and intense pains, the demon-possessed, the epileptics, and the paralytics. And he healed them. Large crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.

As we begin Matthew 5, He has seen the crowds, and from the context, it appears that He takes His disciples and goes to another location to be alone with them so He can teach them. While teaching them He tells them that they are to be the "Light to the World'".

Now, I think I have taken you to where we will begin.

In John 8: 12, Jesus is again speaking to His disciples and tells them that: "I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life."

The questions for you to consider are: Where did Jesus get His power, where did He expect the disciples to get their power, and where do we get our power, to make our lights shine into a dark world? 

What does it take for a light to shine? It takes a bulb, and then it needs a power source (a battery or an electrical cord) supplying power to heat the filament in the bulb so that it shines, and a way to connect the power to the bulb, usually a wire.

So, let's go on. Jesus had an intimate relationship with His Father and through that relationship, He drew His power directly from Him. His light shined because He was connected directly to the power source. His Father!

As He spoke to His disciples and told them that they would be "lights to the world," I wonder if His words, recorded in John 8, "I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life." would strike a chord in their minds, and they would realize that being connected to Him gave them the power to shine as He told them they would. 

Now to finish the thoughts from above. Those same words, from Mathew, apply to us.  We are to be “lights to the world," and those words should become the marching orders that we follow. For that to happen, we need to be, like the disciples, connected to a power source. That power source is Jesus Christ. We are connected to Him through the Holy Spirit, powering the filament in us (our hearts) that generates the heat, and allows our light to shine into the dark world.

As we walk with Him, we need to remember that the connection that we have needs to be kept clean. Sin corrodes that connection, and our lights will dim or die out. As in a normal circuit, if the wires are weakened, or the connection to the bulb becomes corroded, the light from the bulb dims or goes out. 

Repentance and Prayer, because of God's grace, restores that connection and we are again able to be the light the world needs. 

Don't be a dim bulb. Connect to the power source, connect to Jesus. Let your light shine brightly. Be the light He has told us we are to be!

Ed Johanson