Luke 1:76-79 (NIV) 76And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, 77to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, 78because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun [Christ] will come to us from heaven 79to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.
John 1:4-9 (NIV) 4In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 6There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.
The first scripture text today, our passage from Luke, is the song of Zechariah in praise and thanksgiving for the birth of his son, John – more familiarly known to us as John the Baptist. John was not the True Light promised from God as the gift of salvation; but John was the one to bear witness to all that the True Light was soon coming.
The second scripture text today, our passage from John, clarifies that Jesus Christ, sent from God, is the True Light and the only way to salvation to all who would believe. This passage clarifies that John was not the True Light, but the one to bear witness that Christ was the True Light.
More than 2,000 years later, do we have a place in this story? What were the words of Jesus on this topic?
Matthew 5:14-16 (NIV) 14You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Many years ago my husband and I were blessed to take a trip with my brother and his wife up along the coastline of Maine, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, then returning to the mainland. We called it ‘The Lighthouse’ tour because all along the way we visited the various lighthouses along the coast. The lighthouses were spectacular and each held a wonderful history. Yet there was something else; smaller lights, lesser lights, all lighting up the rocky coast the entire trip. Perhaps we haven’t been called to be a ‘lighthouse’, perhaps our purpose is to be a smaller light along the shore. Christ says, we are the light of the world and we have a purpose to shine whatever light we have... for our sakes? Hardly. Our purpose is that others may see the light and glorify God.
Let the Lower Lights Be Burning (Phillip P. Bliss, 1871)
Brightly beams our Father’s mercy from His lighthouse evermore, But to us He gives the keeping of the lights along the shore.
Dark the night of sin has settled, loud the angry billows roar; Eager eyes are watching, longing, for the lights along the shore.
Trim your feeble lamp, my brother; some poor sailor tempest tossed, trying now to reach the harbor, in the darkness may be lost.
Let the lower lights be burning! Send a gleam across the wave! Some poor fainting, struggling seaman you may rescue, you may save.
Lord God, our Father,
Sometimes we get the idea that because we aren’t one of the more spectacular lights that our witness isn’t as important as someone more gifted, more talented, more popular than we. Forgive our short-sightedness; for you have called each and every one of us to be a light that leads others to you. Open our minds and hearts to the opportunities you give us to shine forth your light.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
The devotional Let the Lower Lights Be Burning appeared first on Write From My Heart at https://writefrommyheartblog.blogspot.com
Email: Dotty Willmon, writefrommyheartblog@gmail.com
Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Advent Christian Hymnal, ACGC, 1952.
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