One song that I remember singing many times as a child was “This Little Light of Mine”. The words that have been sung countless times by many children through the years have a very simple, yet profound Biblical message- “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine… Hide it under a bush – OH NO! I’m gonna let it shine… Don’t let Satan blow it! I’m gonna let it shine… Let it shine till Jesus comes. I’m gonna let it shine.”
This song is based on words of Christ in the Sermon on the Mount in which He told the disciples- “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16)
As the world descends into greater spiritual darkness, believers have been given a prime opportunity to shine brightly for the Lord Jesus Christ! Not only is it a prime opportunity, but it is also a pressing responsibility!
Through words we speak and by the way we order our lives, we can make an eternal difference on those around us as we display the transformative work of Christ within our lives! We show the world that Jesus is real and active and powerful through the reality of a life conformed to the image of Christ! The way we live our lives either attracts people to Christ or repels people from Christ.
Philippians 1:27a- “Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ…”
It’s been said that “We may be the only Bible people ever read!” Let that sink in!
Someone once said, “Don’t be so worried about what other people think of you. Be concerned about what they think of Christ because of you.”
In the second century A.D., an Athenian philosopher by the name of Aristides wrote the following about the shining testimony of the Christians of his day:
“But the Christians, O King, while they went about and made search, have found the truth; and as we learned from their writings, they have come nearer to truth and genuine knowledge than the rest of the nations. For they know and trust in God, the Creator of heaven and of earth, in whom and from whom are all things, to whom there is no other god as companion, from whom they received commandments which they engraved upon their minds and observe in hope and expectation of the world which is to come. Wherefore they do not commit adultery nor fornication, nor bear false witness, nor embezzle what is held in pledge, nor covet what is not theirs. They honour father and mother, and show kindness to those near to them; and whenever they are judges, they judge uprightly. They do not worship idols (made) in the image of man; and whatsoever they would not that others should do unto them, they do not to others; and of the food which is consecrated to idols they do not eat, for they are pure. And their oppressors they appease (lit: comfort) and make them their friends; they do good to their enemies; and their women, O King, are pure as virgins, and their daughters are modest; and their men keep themselves from every unlawful union and from all uncleanness, in the hope of a recompense to come in the other world. Further, if one or other of them have bondmen and bondwomen or children, through love towards them they persuade them to become Christians, and when they have done so, they call them brethren without distinction. They do not worship strange gods, and they go their way in all modesty and cheerfulness. Falsehood is not found among them; and they love one another, and from widows they do not turn away their esteem; and they deliver the orphan from him who treats him harshly. And he, who has, gives to him who has not, without boasting. And when they see a stranger, they take him in to their homes and rejoice over him as a very brother; for they do not call them brethren after the flesh, but brethren after the spirit and in God. And whenever one of their poor passes from the world, each one of them according to his ability gives heed to him and carefully sees to his burial. And if they hear that one of their number is imprisoned or afflicted on account of the name of their Messiah, all of them anxiously minister to his necessity, and if it is possible to redeem him they set him free. And if there is among them any that is poor and needy, and if they have no spare food, they fast two or three days in order to supply to the needy their lack of food. They observe the precepts of their Messiah with much care, living justly and soberly as the Lord their God commanded them. Every morning and every hour they give thanks and praise to God for His loving-kindnesses toward them; and for their food and their drink they offer thanksgiving to Him. And if any righteous man among them passes from the world, they rejoice and offer thanks to God; and they escort his body as if he were setting out from one place to another near. And when a child has been born to one of them, they give thanks to God; and if moreover it happen to die in childhood, they give thanks to God the more, as for one who has passed through the world without sins. And further if they see that any one of them dies in his ungodliness or in his sins, for him they grieve bitterly, and sorrow as for one who goes to meet his doom.”(http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/aristides-kay.html)
May we learn from the example of these early Christians and shine brightly for Christ in our generation!
May the world “see [our] good works, and glorify [our] Father which is in heaven.”
~Pastor Aaron Francis
