Let your light so shine before men that they may see your moral excellence and your praiseworthy, noble, and good deeds and recognize and honor and praise and glorify your Father Who is in heaven. Matthew 5:16 AMPC
Context and Charge:
We consider again today part of the first sermon of Jesus on the mountain. It must again be established that Jesus was speaking to his disciples, though there was a crowd at the foot of the mountain, also listening to Him as he taught. That is our first consideration: light is only genuine when it is linked to Jesus. Any other inspiration or perspiration may last for some time, but it will not endure. All who are in Jesus have light in them, but the nature of the light is such that it must not stay inside them. The nature of light is such that its presence cannot be denied, and its absence cannot be ignored. The tiniest sliver of light in the midst of the deepest darkness will attract everyone. When Jesus therefore refers to us as light, it is an assignment we cannot take for granted or treat lightly; it calls for accountability and responsibility.
How would the light shine if it is not both visible and audible? The world is the stage for the light to be made manifest. I can make any claims I want about the light, but my daily living must show off the proof of the light in me. Light has fruit; it has physical, tangible evidence. If I have it, it will show; if I don't, this is the one of those things that cannot be faked. The light also is required in a world that is full of darkness; the world cannot overcome the light, no matter how hard it tries, but those who are the light must let it find expression in and through them. Men have to see the fruit of the light in me, because it is the fruit that will lead to praise to God. If God were to force me to eat the fruit of my life right now, would I enjoy eating? Can I also offer the fruit of my life to others to eat?
Conviction and Conclusion:
It then means that I have to dare to stand out, be different from the world around me, if I am to be the light to the world. I cannot blend in with the world, and also impact the world. The Light and the world are two opposite dimensions, with opposite control centres and different eternal realities. I must remember that fruit is to be eaten, which means that my life must fill out the hunger and thirst in people. Men must come in contact with the life of God; they must be grateful to God that I came their way. God wants to take glory from my life, because I have been made in his image, and then placed on the earth so I can represent God. It will be a shame if God were to be ashamed to call me His own because I am not living according to the light that I am. I ask God for help, so I can be all that I have been made to be. God's time of favour is here.
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