by Mike Schafer
It’s campaign season in America. Don’t you love it? It dominates our news, infiltrates our conversations, and will soon overwhelm our commercials. It always seems like a very dark season to me. And, in case you’ve forgotten, we’re still over a year away from the actual election!
No matter which side of the political fence you fall on, every candidate has a common theme: if elected, I will make this nation a better place. I have my doubts that’s actually going to happen, but it did get me to thinking.
Isn’t that the call on each of our lives as followers of Jesus?
Matthew 5:14-16 NIV
The day you invited Jesus into your heart, light moved in. Your nature changed. The light of God is now part of your DNA. YOU are the light of the world.
It seems, though, we need a little clarification in our current political climate about the nature of light. Being a light doesn’t mean you spend all of your time cursing the darkness. Light overcomes darkness by shining, not yelling.
Yes, darkness needs to be exposed . . . but that happens when light shines. Change the broken world around you by radiating Jesus. The job doesn’t belong to politicians and world leaders. It belongs to followers of Jesus.
Let me share one last word about Jesus’ challenge in Matthew 5. There were no light bulbs in biblical times like the ones in the picture. The primary means of light Jesus is talking about is a small oil lamp fashioned out of clay. These little lamps burned brighter when they were properly maintained. The wick needed to be trimmed and the oil supply refilled. Proper care meant brighter light.
Those last five words reflect our passion at SonScape with Christian leaders. Take care of your walk with Jesus and you will burn brighter for Him. Your impact grows with a deeper walk, not more hours of work. It’s good advice for all of us who follow Jesus.
Shine!