Shining in the Darkness

Arise and shine, says the song, for the Light has come at last.  The light, of course, is Yahusha, and we are called to be like Him, being transformed into His image.  So if He is the light of the world, then we are to be the light of the world also.

Actually, it’s a commandment.  Yahusha told us that we are to let our light shine before others so that we will give glory to our Father, for example by good works (Matthew. 5:16).  Does that mean I need to do lots of charitable work and deeds?

Well, yes and no. The example of Yahusha, and the love we have in our hearts, should indeed have an outflowing in helping others.  But that isn’t the main point.  

The point is that we don’t actually belong to the darkness anymore.  The point is that we are children of light - of God - and are to walk in that light.  Part of His light is that He helps others, but mainly His light lies simply in His presence, exactly because He is light (John 1:4-5).

Spending time in His presence, with our hearts engaged, should cause us to draw near to God - and that causes Him to draw near to us.  It is your conversation from the heart which gives God the opportunity to respond. It is your heartfelt appreciation and love poured into your worship, because you want to let Him know how you feel about Him. 

It is spending time in His word as an opportunity to meet with Him, to get to know Him better and to allow Him to influence you.  This causes us to grow in Him, and to shine increasingly brightly.

In effect this is what Moses did on Mount Sinai. Spending time in fellowship with God caused his face to shine with light.  It’s the same for us - when we spend time interacting with God, it causes us to shine. With Moses it was his face, with us it is an inner light which shines in our actions.

The world we live in can be a dark place, with people doing dark and terrible things.  There are days when things in our lives and in the world around us seem so gloomy that it is hard to imagine how we could possibly bring light into the situation.  And of course, of ourselves we can’t. But the great thing is that we don’t need to do it in our own strength - which is just as well! We are simply to let Him shine through us.  Because His light is infectious.  

Ask Moses if you don’t believe me.

Let’s draw near and spend more time with God so that you can glow.  Because this world really needs you to shine some light. (Matthew 5:14).

By Caroline Weedon