No Artificial Light!
by Jilly Lyon-Taylor
Following a recent storm in the south of England, many thousands of homes were left without electricity. Ours was one of them, because a tree had fallen on the power line near our house. After the storm had blown over and the skies had cleared, I looked out of the window at the night sky and found that it had an unusual clarity. The moon and stars seemed to be shining particularly brightly and I was able to see some that would not normally be visible to the naked eye. Because there were no artificial lights due to the power cut, the area was in total darkness and this enabled me to see the moon and stars in all their glory.
This made me think of how often we can get in the way of God’s glory. Man’s efforts - whether it’s our futile attempts to prove ourselves, or to try to please God, our pride, or our independence – these can prevent the light of Christ from being clearly seen. Jesus tells us that apart from Him we can do nothing (John 15:5), but when we try to do things in our own strength, or when we take pride in our achievements, or that of our church or ministry, we’re taking some of the glory away from God. This means that we could be hampering other people from seeing Him in all His splendour.
The moon has no light of its own at all. It merely reflects the light of the sun. In a similar way, we need to be reflecting the light of Jesus Christ to the world, not trying to project ourselves, or taking any of the glory. As we lay down our lives for Him, and give Him all the honour, it will enable Him to be seen more clearly, as the beauty of the night sky was so clearly visible without human interference during the power cut. We need to say, as John the Baptist did in John 3:30: ‘He must increase, but I must decrease’.
Prayer: Lord, I know that without You I can do nothing. Forgive me for the times when I’ve taken pride in what I’ve done, or in the way You’ve used me. I want to give You all the glory for the good things in my life, and I pray that I will be able to reflect Your light to others. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Jilly Lyon-Taylor is part of the Leadership Team at Ellel Pierrepont. She worked in publishing and then with children in Hong Kong before concentrating on being a full-time mother and serving in the local church. Her desire to see people healed led her to the Luke Nine Eleven Training Scheme(NETS) at Pierrepont, and now she teaches and ministers there.
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