The purpose of light is to penetrate, not to be lit and then covered or hidden away – that’s rather stupid!  Here is today’s brief, three-verse passage, and then I’ll tell you a story about my grand-dog.

Luke 8:16 – “No one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. 17 For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. 18 Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them.”

For several days while one of my sons is out of town with his family, I am keeping their dog for them. William is a long-haired, black dachshund. Most of you likely know that my own precious pup is a white Jack Russell Terrier.

Just a little bit of light can go a long way in revealing things. At nighttime, just the minimal light of a hallway nightlight or the moon through the windows makes my own dog sufficiently visible. But the situation is different with William. In just two evenings, I have stepped on him twice, closed the bedroom door on him once, and laid down on top of him on the bed – not seeing him and knowing he was there. So I am turning on lights when I move about now, just to make sure I don’t crush the poor thing.

The purpose of light is to reveal. Christ is the light that has come into the world to reveal truth. He is the living light, and the word of God is the written light. The Psalmist (119:105) wrote that we should honor God’s word as a lamp for feet and a light for our path (William’s favorite verse this week!).

Additionally, we become lights of truth as the Word of God ignites life within us and the Spirit lives through us. Paul wrote that we should be “… children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.”  Our life in Christ is not to be hidden but to rather do what light does … shine.

Once upon a time there was a boy in a Christian family who was a great soccer player and who as a young teen wanted to go to a six-week long, elite, summer sports camp. It was not Christian-based, and his godly parents were uneasy about this extended exposure. They finally allowed it, speaking quite extensively to the boy about how he was to not let any secular influences shake his faith. At the end of the time, as the parents picked him up and asked about this part of his summer experience, he said, “Everything was fine. They never found out that I was a Christian!”

Oops! Wrong application.

For us to have the light of truth and then to essentially hide it by not making it a featured part of our lives is rather … well … crazy!  But as we let it shine, we find that we grow and learn more and are better able to be effective lights that penetrate the darkness.

So, go light up your world today!