You are the light of the world!

Matthew 5:14-16

14 ‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

Last time we discovered that we were are fearfully and wonderfully made.  Now we are reading about Jesus telling us that we are the light of the world.  Ask yourself: What’s so important about light?  What does light do?  How can I be a light?

Simply put, we need light in order to see clearly.  We need light so we know that we are on the right path.  We need light so we can keep from stumbling and falling.  Light can brings clarity from confusion.  We can be lights by working wonders in the word through our displays of love, respect, knowledge, consideration of others, and teaching the world about God.  We can be the lights of God.

Verse 14 states that a city on a hill cannot be hidden.  When I drive towards downtown Atlanta at night and see the bright skyline, I know it is impossible for all that light to be hidden.  It is like trying to put a curtain over Times Square in New York City or a veil over Las Vegas.  The light is much too brilliant; too blinding!  So is the light that God put in you.  When the world sees you, they see the light that God put in you.  This light radiates from you because of the way you conduct yourself and how you treat people.  Your smile is like a flash of light in the darkness; like lightning in the midnight sky.  You bring illumination into every place that you enter.  The goodness of God is pulsating through you.

Jesus says that people do not light a lamp and then hide it under a basket.  It is absurd to cover a burning flame!  To cover a light defeats the purpose of the light shining.  God put a light in you.  To not let it shine goes against your very purpose for living.  It makes no sense.  Putting a lamp under a basket is the equivalent to wasting your talents, not putting forth your best effort, not treating others like you want to be treated, or not loving yourself.

Jesus tells us that a lamp should be put on a stand in order to give light to everyone in the house.  This means that you are to be a light to everyone around you.  Where ever you go, people should benefit from your presence.  You should warm their hearts and give light to their world with your kind words, pleasant attitude, good deeds, and loving actions.  People should see the light in you as clearly as the sun in the sky.  It should not be necessary to announce that you are a Christian, that you are saved, or that you are a child of God.  It should be noticed automatically by those around you because everything about your demeanor is divinely shining.  People should be drawn to you even if they can’t put their finger on what it is that makes you so different.  This magnetism is what opens the door for you to tell them about the God that shines through you. 

Jesus says, in the same way a lamp shines, let your light shine so everyone can see the great things you accomplish so that they can praise God in heaven.  People should be moved by your love, your deeds, your life, your kindness, your compassion, your forgiveness, and your talents that they praise God!  They will see God in you.  They will bear witness to the miracle of you and realize that it is God who made them too.  They will know that if God can use you as a vessel, they can be used too!

You are the light of the world.  Let your light shine so bright that you will help destroy the darkness in others.  Shine so fiercely that your influence will touch the lives of many and provoke a spiritual revolution.

It is easy to fumble around in darkness and conform to chaos.  It takes no effort to become lost.  Be the light that the Christ tells you are and help extinguish the darkness of negativity, poverty, apathy, hatred, hopelessness, faithlessness, violence, and grief.

Be the light of the world and shine, shine, shine!