Matthew 5:14-15
"Jesus, the babe in the stable's manger in Bethlehem, was the greatest light to ever enter this world. God meant for His light to be seen by the people of that generation and every generation to follow. The light of His Son brought an end to our attempts to do enough 'right things' to get us into His heavenly kingdom. All of our 'trying' to keep the Law ended when the Light of the world hung on a cross. For every believer, the price of our own sin has been paid in full. This Child became our Savior and removed from us the individual punishment that we so rightly deserved. Now, as His children, the Spirit has been given to us, and He dwells in us. The work of our salvation continues through the Spirit, the life of Christ inside of us. Now we no longer live, but instead, Christ lives within us. How incredible that God would find a way to transfer the Light of His Son into the souls of His children! Now that He has made us like His Son, He wants us to share the Light of Christ that is within us with others. How do we know that? Take a look at today's Bible verses.
At the beginning of the fifth chapter of Matthew, Jesus looked out at the multitude of people that were following Him, drawn to the Light of His presence. When He saw them, He went up onto a mountain and sat down to teach them. It is here that we hear Jesus tell this gathering who it is that is blessed in His eyes. Blessed are those who realize their need for God; those who mourn; those who are gentle; those who have a deep hunger and thirst to do what is right; those who are merciful; those who are pure in heart; those who are peacemakers; and those who are persecuted and insulted for their faith. Have you ever wondered what these nice sayings mean? By looking at the verses that follow the 'blesseds' we can more clearly see the context of the first twelve verses of chapter five. These character traits are what make us good candidates to share the gospel, the good news of Jesus, with others. In verse 13 Jesus reminds the people that they are the 'salt of the earth,' and challenges them to not lose their 'saltiness,' for then they will be of little use to Him.
Jesus has declared us to be the light of the world. Isn't that strange? We have been learning for a couple of weeks now that He is the Light of the world. But because He makes His home in us, we have now become light to the world, even as He is. Knowing that the very light of Jesus is in us, in the form of the Holy Spirit, how can we continue to hide that Light from those who are walking in darkness? We are the brightly lit city that He has placed on top of the mountain for the entire world to see! It is His plan for others to see His light in us! So, isn't it about time that we stop hiding His light? If we decorated our living room, and bought a very costly and exquisite lamp to light the room, which one of us would keep the light in its original packaging? Would we set that lamp in a hidden area and keep it turned off? Would we set it on the floor and cover it with a blanket so that no one could see or use the light? Of course not! We would proudly display it and turn it on to light our surroundings! Why then do we try to fade into the woodwork when the Light of the world dwells inside of us? Have we lost our saltiness already? Do we really want to be used of God to spread the good news? Or are we perfectly content being an lamp with no switch, looking beautiful on the outside, but of completely no value when it come to spreading Light around?
In this season of cheerful lighting all around us, are people in your neck of the woods seeing the real Light in you? If not, it's time to flip the switch and chase away the darkness!"
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