[ecko_quote source=" John 8:12"]Jesus spoke saying, "I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life[/ecko_quote]
Shining is always costly. Light comes only at the cost of that which produces it. An unlit candle does no shining. Burning must come before shining. We cannot be of great use to others without a cost to our own selves. Burning suggests suffering. We shrink from pain.
We are apt to feel that we are doing the greatest good in the world when we are strong and able for active duty, and when the heart and hands are full of kindly service.
When we are called aside and can only suffer; when we are sick, when we are consumed with pain, when all our activities have been dropped, we feel that we are of no use any longer and that we are not doing anything.
But, if we are patient and submissive, it is almost certain that we are a greater blessing to the world in our time of suffering and pain than we were in the days when we thought we were doing the most of our work. We are burning now and shining because we are burning.
The glory of tomorrow is rooted in the labour of today. Many want the glory without the cross, the shining without the burning, but crucifixion comes before coronation.
We take a candle into a room to dispel the darkness. Likewise, the Light of Jesus Christ has to be taken into the darkness of sin which engulfs the hearts and lives of those who are not following Him. That is the condition of having this Light—that we follow Him. If we do not follow Him, we will not have this light, this truth, this eternal life.
A Father went into a toy store to buy his son a Christmas present. The salesman showed him a new educational toy. It came unassembled, but no matter how the child put the pieces together, they would not fit. You see, the toy was designed to teach the child how to deal with life. Such is the mess of a person without God. He is never able to put his life together without Him. A life without Christ is a life of futility.
Receive Jesus as your light. Continue to look to him as your light. And then let him shine for you and through you. AMEN!
Image Source:
[https://raymcdonald.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/jesus_light_of_the_world.jpg]
