How do you react to a power failure, especially at night? The first thing
I want to do is bring light back into the room! I think we take for granted
the light that we so lavishly enjoy night after night as we turn on our
favorite lamps and sit back and SEE. How does your favorite lamp make
you feel? I know that may sound like a silly question, but I have several
different lamps in my home that I enjoy. I have one large Victorian lamp
in my living room that I brings me pleasure which brings the main amount
of light to the room and is pretty in design. Then I also have several
different types of little Victorian lamps placed here and there for atmosphere
which cozily bring light to one corner or another. When the sun goes down,
I go from lamp to lamp and turn them on, bringing a warmth and comfort
to the darkness that was threatening to take over my home. Even if we
are going out, I like to leave my lamps on so that when I return home
on any given evening I will be welcomed by their subtle glow. Come to
think of it, many times while driving by various homes in the evening
you will notice someone else's favorite lamp is usually centered in the
main window. Lamps present such cozy pictures and change the entire personality
of the home. As a matter of fact, Luke speaks of this very thing in verse
33 of Luke chapter 11....
"No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place,
neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick that they which come in may
see the light."
Here we find that there is actually a right way and a wrong way to treat
the light of our home. I usually remind my older son who does the dusting
on cleaning day of this fact. "Be careful of that lamp - don't break it!"
While that is my motherly advice, Luke tells us here in scripture that
the best way to treat this particular lamp is not to put it in a secret
place - we must put it in a highly visible place! Who, besides me, is
going to benefit from the proper handling of this lamp? The Bible says
"that they which come in..." my home and my life will benefit. Every spiritual
lamp has been given the responsibility to do it's part to shed light upon
Christ's face and make Him easy to be seen...
Ephesians 5:8, "For ye were sometimes darkness, but now ye are light in
the Lord: walk as children of light. "
2 Corinthians 4:6, "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness,
hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ."
So we find then that the light shining within us - our spiritual lamps
so to speak, can and should affect many people. While we are on the topic
of light, we must continue to read on down in verse 34 and find what Christ
has to say about this inner glow....
"The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single,
thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy
body also is full of darkness."
Yes, our homes have lamps and our bodies have lamps too! The lamp of our
body is the eye, isn't that an interesting thought.... What happens if
our eyes are good? The Bible says that then our whole body is full of
light. But when our eyes are bad then our whole body is full of darkness...
One little member of our body makes such a big difference to our whole
being?? And yet it's true, for when the electrical power goes out and
darkness sets in, we certainly do realize how much of a difference one
single lightbulb really makes, amen? If we could talk to Thomas Edison,
I'm sure he would confirm that fact! This is precisely why Jesus goes
on to give His children wise counsel concerning their light in verses
35-36....
"Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.
If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the
whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth
give thee light."
Have you got any bulbs out today dear lady, have you got any dark parts
of your heart that need tending to? You and I are fully aware of exactly
when that light goes out because the brightness we once enjoyed then becomes
dim...and others are no longer able to see Christ within us. As God's
children, we need to make sure that the light keeps shining brightly within
us, no area of our lives should ever lose it's light! One of the ways
we can ensure this is to take care of the way we live. There are certain
people, certain situations, certain habits that you and I can become involved
in that tend to fill us with darkness. Therefore, we need to take the
necessary steps to keep old habits, tempting circumstances, ungodly conversations,
wrong associations, bad attitudes etc. from darkening our lives. Such
things dim your glow. You just don't see right when they are present and
neither does that lost person nearby you! You begin to trip and then fall
in the darkness that takes over your life. Ladies, these are precisely
the "bulbs" that need to be replaced with ones that shine brightly, amen?
Each of us is controlled either by light or by darkness.... The frightening
thing is that some people have so hardened themselves against the Lord
that they cannot tell the difference! They think they are following the
light, when in reality they are walking in darkness. This is why Jesus
warned us to "take heed". We must diligently keep our eyes, the lamp of
our body, upon the Lord to restore our full glow!
Micah 7:8b, "....when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto
me."
Romans 13:12, "The night is far spent, the day is at hand, let us therefore
cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light."
Man was created with two eyes, so that with one he may see Gods greatness,
and with the other his own lowliness, amen? You see ladies, spiritual
insight comes from focusing our life on the Lord. Spiritual vision is
our capacity to see clearly what God wants us to do and to see our sin,
the world, and the lost from His point of view. In the light of His glory
and grace, we find that the things of this earth grow strangely dim...
Yet this spiritual insight can easily be clouded as we've already considered.
Self-serving desires, interests, and goals block that heavenly vision.
Self-righteousness gives us a false sense of light as we go about trying
to tell others their bulbs are out before first changing our own bulbs!
A "good" eye is one that is fixed on God.... What has your eye been focused
on lately? Serving God is the best way to restore proper spiritual insight,
amen? Our desire should be to discover what God wants and then invest
ourselves in obedience to His Word. The Bible is THE lamp unto our feet
and THE light unto our path that never goes dim, amen? How well you receive
the Word of God into your hearts will determine your "wattage" as a Christian,
the far reaching affect of your light. Are you a "hundred watt bulb",
a "sixty watt bulb", or a "thirty watt bulb" today....
Matthew 13:23, "But he that received seed into the good ground is he that
heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and
bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."
In closing, God's Word should be our all-time favorite lamp, centered
in the window of our hearts and homes! As we heed the Word of God and
see by it, our understanding of God will increase. Our vision of God will
become clearer. And our lights will shine brighter to all who enter into
our homes or pass by us... See to it that your life always burns brightly
for the cause of Christ, won't you? Don't let that bulb go out!
1 John 1:5, "This then is the message which we have heard of him, and
declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all."
God Bless,
Pam
Isaiah 60:1&2
Copyright 1999 Pamela A. Iannello
