Is Your Light Shining?

“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.” ​Matthew 5:14-15 (NLT) 

If we are the light of the world as Jesus said, where does that light come from?  John answers that question in his gospel: “In Him (Christ) was life, and that life was the light of men.” John 1:4 (NIV)  

John is telling us that to have the light on in our life, we must have the life of Christ in our life.  When His life possesses us, our lives will shine with the light of His life!  We are like a lamp, incapable of shining until we are plugged into a power source.  We cannot shine apart from His life within us. His life in us provides the power for His light to shine through us in a dark world.    

If your world is full of darkness and you have no light, the problem is most likely a disconnect.  When you connect with Christ and share His life, you have the power to light your world.  Are you connected to Christ? Have you received His light in exchange for your darkness? If not, the solution is simple.  Open your heart to Christ’s life.  Receive Him by faith acknowledging the darkness in your world and your need for Him. Turn from that darkness to the light of His life and ask Him to come into your life. A few verses down the page from John 1:4 is verse 12, that says, “Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” 

Receive His life today and light up your world! Here’s our challenge as Christ followers:  

“… Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.”  Philippians 2:15 (NLT)