PASTOR’S CORNER: Hold up the light

Now we all know about light and we all know what light is for.

God originated light when he spoke and said “Let there be light” in Genesis 1:3. He did that because He knew that the world would be a miserable and dark place without light in it. God saw the light, that it was good in verse 4 and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness he called night.

Our omniscient God knew what life would be like without light in it. Light represents God. For the Bible says in I John 1:5 that “God is light; and in Him is no darkness at all.” Jesus himself also said in John 8:12 of himself, “I am the LIGHT of the world.”

With that being the case, we then see how important light is. We can all agree that we would not want to live in a world where there is no light.

Proof of that is in the fact that when there is a storm or some sort that threatens to knock the power off we all pray that the lights will not go out. If it does, we are in a different world. There’s something about darkness and night. For one, it is hard to move around at night. Visibility is not good at night. The human eye has poor vision at night compared to animals such as cats, dogs, foxes and rabbits.

We as humans are afraid of what we can’t see. Darkness and night, though created by God, represent everything bad but we need it because the body responds to night and it prepares itself for rest and relaxation. For hours every night we sleep better through the hours of the night. Doctor’s and dentist’s offices close. Fast food, restaurants all close at some point in the night. Some sicknesses don’t raise their heads until the hours that night falls. When the phone rings over in the night or an alarm goes off, our heart skips a beat. We think that something is wrong and when we walk into our homes at night, the first thing we do is turn on the light switch because light dispels the darkness. It helps us to see.

But that’s why when it comes to God, we use the term light because light is who He is. If we are Christians, light is who we are and what does light do? It shines and it draws, especially in the dark. Turn on an outside light, and it draws every bug, insect and mosquito in the woods. Light shines brightest and effectively in the dark.

I said that to say this, if you didn’t know, we live in a dark world. Not that the sun is not shining, no, it’s shining but this world is still in darkness — spiritual darkness — under the influence of Satan, the god of this world, according to 2 Corinthians 4:4.

The people in the world are walking around in darkness. It’s sad but it’s true. Mothers are against daughters, fathers are against sons. The love of many has waxed cold according to the scriptures in I Timothy 3:1-5.

There is lawlessness in epic proportions, and it’s a shame. The world is trying to find its way. They need to see the light. Our young people need to see the light.

Now the truth of the matter this morning is that all of us used to be night creatures. We once groped around in the darkness trying to find our way but now by the grace of God we are light creatures. We are what ought to be, not what we used to be.

Now we are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, called out of DARKNESS into His marvelous LIGHT, according I Peter 2:9. And we are called by God to hold up the light! We are to be seasoned with the gospel and not only that but we are to be seasoned in our thoughts and our words so that we will know how to talk to people. See, words can build up, or they can tear down. They can draw people to us or push people away from us, and a Christian’s words ought to have grace!

Maybe the reason why some folks don’t get saved is because they don’t see the light. Maybe some that we are praying for don’t get saved because they don’t see any light! Community, our families that are not saved are in darkness. Coworkers, neighbors, people we meet are in darkness.

If Jesus is who we say he is. If he is the best thing that ever happened to us, then we ought to live it out in the world before sinners so as to create a thirst in them for him so that they will want what we’ve got.

Friends, If we are not salty Christians, then why should God leave us here? If our light has blown out, then the bulb needs to be removed and thrown away! Jesus said “It is good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under the foot of men,” Matthew 5:13. The question we all need to ask ourselves is “am I salty?” “Is my light shining bright and others see it or is it dim or is it gone out altogether?”

We sing that song sometimes “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine … Everywhere I go, all in my home, all along the highway, I’m going to let it shine.” Then let’s do it! We’ve been called to “hold up the light!”