Lights On, Lights Off

Picture, if you will, a hallway. To the left, about halfway down the hall, you have four doors, one right after the other. The first was the door to my grandparents’ bedroom. The second was the hall closet. The third was the stairs to the basement. The fourth was the bathroom. Let’s say you’re about three or four years old …you have to go to the bathroom…you can’t see your hand in front of your face…you don’t have a flashlight…and you’re not that used to sleeping over. What’s going to happen?

All I know is this: I was sound asleep in my bed when I (and everyone else in the house, and perhaps the block) woke to the following noise, which I will transcribe as best I can:

WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP
WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP

BAM! (Insert blood-curdling scream here.)

Needless to say, my cousin picked the wrong door, hurtled down the ten steps and slammed into the wall (because, alas, the steps turned to the left), and then emitted a scream that quite possibly registered on the Richter scale.

Had my cousin walked to the bathroom toting a flashlight, the above would never have happened. I can’t help but think of times when the right way to go or the right decision to make seemed confusing. Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path” (NKJV). In those dark times of life, we can always turn to God and ask for His guidance. There is comfort in knowing we are never alone. There is comfort in knowing we can put our trust in God.

Further, in His sermon on the mount, Jesus called the believers “light” (Matthew 5:13-16). The book of I John discusses our fellowship and relationship with God with the same term: light. We teach this principle to children with the song “This Little Christian Light of Mine.” We are light to the world around us because we are His believers. We can be the beacon of light that guides another soul to God.

Light is an important part of life. It keeps us from harm; it guides us; it comforts us. In turn, it allows us to keep others from harm; it allows us to guide others; it allows us to comfort others. Is your Christian light shining, or have you hidden it under the bushel?