LIGHT OF THE WORLD

Afternoon family on this last day of 2024. Roll on 2025. Wow, a quarter of this century is already here.

Matthew 5:14-16

“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on a stand and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men so that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

I briefly shared this on Christmas Eve. This is an incredible passage to think Jesus calls us, his body the church the light of the world and expects us to shine our light.

In 1 John 4:17 says “…. In this world, we are like Him

Astounding verse. Our very purpose in this life is to be a light in this world and to be like Him in this world. Anything else means we have missed the very reason why we exist. Jesus didn’t just save us to give us a free ticket to heaven. That might be the end result but it's not our purpose. If you ask most Christians what is your purpose in life. They would probably say to go to heaven and without realizing we have turned the very gospel into something very self-centered and it has become all about us instead of about Him.  It's become all about God giving me a good life, a good marriage, and a lovely comfortable life. That is not the Gospel. We are to be the light in the darkness in a dying world. In the Acts, it says they were first called Christians which meant they were like little Christs on the earth. Their very lives were just like Jesus Christ. When they looked at believers’ that’s what they saw. When we see darkness increasing in our society or nation it's because we have not been shining our light. Wherever you are working in this world you are there to be a light to expel the darkness. The darker the place the more your light should shine. It's not time to pray Lord get me out of here because my boss is mean or it’s not a godly environment. No, it’s the opposite. I’m here to bring the light. That’s my mission assignment before God. Let 2025 be a year when we shine our light.