The Word

Light

🌟 Scriptures 🌟

Matthew 5:13-15

"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

14 "You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.

16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

🗣️The Message📜

The Bible says that we're the light of the world. "A town built on a hill cannot be hidden." It goes on to say that a lamp isn't lit just to be covered, it's lit to give light to everyone in the house. The Word also says that we're salt, but salt without its saltiness is useless and used for nothing. This is talking about those who have received The Holy Spirit and have been born again but do not let The Holy Spirit change them. 

This reminds me of the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30). One person was given five talents and made five more, another was given two talents and made two more, but the one given one talent dug it in the ground and did nothing with it. When the master came back he was furious with the servant because he did nothing with what he was given and for that, he was punished. Why? Because he denied his light, the Bible says he was wicked and slothful. He hid the coin like so many hide their lights from the world.

How do we hide our light? We do this by being quiet when we should speak, going along with the crowd, denying God's truth, letting sin dim our light, not explaining our light to others, Also ignoring the need of others(Pulled from application study Bible notes pg 1585).  All of these are attributes of someone who is denying the voice of The Holy Spirit, denying the voice of God. This person was punished not just for hiding their light but for being disobedient. 

This makes me think of Moses when He went up to the mountain to receive God's commandments when he came down his face shone because he was in the presence of God. That light was evidence that Moses did indeed go to the mountain top and talked to God. Then, When he came down from the mountain he did God's will and taught them the commandments. We also have received God's light and we must do God's will with it, so people will know that God lives.

Now, why do people hide their light? Well, let's look back at the parable of the talents. When this person stepped forward to give an account of what he did with his talent he said "'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.'

He was afraid, most people deny their light out of fear, but that fear blinds us to what we're truly doing. When people fear they are showing a lack of trust in God, The man was given only one coin because God knew he could handle one coin, but he didn't trust that the master knew and hid the coin. When fear stops an assignment it shows a lack of love, this man dug his coin in the ground and did nothing. The master trusted him with his money, even if it was one coin, but the servant did nothing with it and this showed how much he cared for his master. Then his fear stopped him from working which showed laziness. He got an assignment from the master, the master was gone for a very long time and he did nothing but hid his coin. No one is given anything to do nothing with it.

Now how do we let our lights shine? Well, first by doing good works. Then one may say we aren't saved by good works, yes, but the Bible says obedience is better than sacrifice. When we get saved we are born again and that born again body is commanded to obey The Holy Spirit. If we are commanded to do good works to show God's light why not do it, how will people know that we belong to God if we do nothing for Him? If we don't shine our light? If we don't show love? 

I remember for a long time I was afraid of telling people about God and sharing this bright light that shone within me. What would people think? Would I say the wrong thing? Would they get angry and argue with me? Thankfully God showed me just to trust Him, he would guide me and teach me when to speak and when to be quiet, He would lead and guide me into all truth my task was just to believe, have faith, and obey when the Spirit said move. Believe that He gave me enough to do His will until He comes back. Sometimes, I still have trouble speaking to others, and the doubts rise up. What if? Even so, God reminds me of His truth, He calls us to take His yoke and learn from Him, He calls us to surrender to him and stop fighting so He can lead us into all truth and give us peace.