Matthew 5:13-16
“Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavours of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.
14-16 “Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colours in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.
What a gloomy Autumn we're headed into - threats of shortages, power cuts and nothing for Christmas... I can see you reaching for the anti-depressants already!
Already there's talk of the lights going out at some point, there's simply, so they say, not enough energy to power our modern day, energy thirsty households.
Thoughts of frozen burst pipes, shivering front rooms, defrosting freezers and no Internet tend to be held above our heads like multiple swords of Damocles... impending doom is all around.
In the midst of the turmoil Jesus' words from the Sermon on the Mount have a contemporary feel to them. I've purposely used the translation from The Message to give a new slant to His Message.
Basically, the darker the darkness, the brighter our lights are called to shine on our neighbours, pointing the way to Jesus as THE Light of the World.
If the electric lights go out, the eternal Light of Jesus never will. His light illumines our lives with all that we need to be triumphant in difficult circumstances.
“When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, ‘I Am the Light of the World. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’” -John 8:12
If you are a believer and follower of Jesus, there's no chance that you will be left in the dark. You have a spiritual "Power Station" connected directly to God that's always on full charge and available night and day.
We read that the UK are reliant on foreign countries for our energy needs. Not all of these countries are on good terms with us at present, making us very vulnerable to potential power cuts.
Thankfully, Jesus loves us more than we will ever know and we can rely on Him to meet every energy need that we have.
Rejoice and keep your light shining, firm in the knowledge that there's plenty more light to come.
For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.
Psalm 36:9
Comments