A Child of Light

"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

Living in a rural area means, among other things (gnats and mosquitoes come to mind right away, but that’s not what I’m going to talk about) that when the power goes out, it is really, REALLY dark. The other day, we were without power for a good portion of the night and as I looked out the window, I marveled at the thickness of the darkness outside of our house. I also marveled at the almost magical power of a small candle. It took me by surprise when Dan lit the scented candle I keep in the kitchen. I was in the living room, separated by a wall, and I saw the sudden glow of the light come out through the sides and cut through the darkness one room away.

That small candle provided enough light to chase away the spooky darkness and put my young sons at ease. That’s when Matthew 5: 14 came to my mind. We are called to be the light of the world! We are to shine our light and not hide it. Even if we think our light is small, let us make sure that it will shine brightly for this world is dark and light never shines brighter than when in the thickest of darkness.

Let’s not hide our light under a bowl. The time is now to let it shine high above. Whatever that may mean for each one of us, if we all let our light shine in our own sphere of influence, we will be fulfilling our mission and contributing to opening the path for His light to triumph.

Even though the days are evil, we must redeem the times and try to make the most out of every opportunity to shine the light. (Ephesians 5: 16) After all, it is ultimately His light what we shine for He is the Light and He dwells in us, so ours is but a reflection of Him.

“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” Ephesians 5: 8-11

The power came back that evening and the kids finally were able to go to bed and fall asleep. Later that night, I remembered how thick the darkness was and how that small candle was able to pierce it with one flickering spark of its wick. I want to be that candle, and never forget that, though I am small, I ought to fulfill my God-given mission and live as a child of light.