Let Your Light Shine

The movie Woodlawn is a fact and faith based drama about a high school football team yearning for a championship and facing many obstacles along the way. Towards the end, there’s a beautiful scene that reminded me of our verse for today.

The chaplain in the movie is speaking to the crowd in a well-lit stadium. While sharing about the difference one candle’s light can make, all the lights in the stadium are switched off and someone lights a candle. This person then lights the candle of the one sitting next to him, and this action continues until every person in the stadium is holding a lit candle. And it all started with one candle that made a difference in the darkness.

He goes on to tell of the first time he had this very same experience during his younger years. Even though he was sitting far towards the back of the stadium, he could clearly see the light of that first candle that was burning on it’s own.

In Matthew 5:14 (NLT) we read: ‘You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden’.

Sometimes we may think that the little light we shine is just too insignificant and too small to make a difference, but that light is actually the Light of Jesus in us. Jesus says in John 8:12: “I am the Light of the world. If you follow Me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the Light that leads to life.” Jesus is able to use the little we give and use it mightily to His glory. All He asks is that we trust Him enough, like the little boy in John 6:9, who gave up his five small barley loaves and two small fish, knowing that there were hundreds of people that needed to be fed. Jesus used what the boy offered in faith, and He performed a miracle that we still read about today: ‘After everyone was full, Jesus told His disciples, “Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted”. So they picked up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with scraps left by the people who had eaten from the five barley loaves’ (John 6:12-13).

I read in a Bible study on James: “What seems a drop in the bucket to you, is a sip from the wellspring of life to someone about to thirst to death”. Use what you have, and reach out to those around you. Sometimes a smile, or a word of encouragement, is all someone needs to just believe again, and to hope again.

Prayer: Jesus, thank You for Your Light that You gave me so freely. Please help me to shine my light to the world we’re living in by being who You made me to be. Show me who to help and how. I trust You to use what I have to Your honour and glory. It’s all about You, Lord. Amen.