MONDAY May 22nd
Matthew 5:14-16
‘You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.’
I wonder how many that read the devotions have been to Blackpool, probably a good number of us, but I wonder what the reason was for us to go? I guess for many it would have been the Illuminations, (for those that do not know, Blackpool has a long stretch of the promenade lit up later in the year with a spectacular display of lights).
I only ever went on holiday once in my childhood and it was to Blackpool, when I was 10 years old, my grandparents took me with them to spend a week there as my granny’s sister lived at Thornton Cleveleys. For me as a farmers boy, who had never really been anywhere too far from home before, to be in Blackpool and to see the illuminations was absolutely amazing. I have returned since a few times.
Why have I shared this, well, our text tells us that we are called to be light, together that means lights and as we shine for Jesus in this dark world we can be illumination that is far superior and far more reaching than the Blackpool Illuminations! Individually we are light, but collectively we are light together, and we can illuminate the world and especially the community around our Church, with the One who is the true light.
See, without being disrespectful to Blackpool, many probably wouldn’t visit if they didn’t have the illuminations to draw visitors, and likewise, many may not attend our Churches, they have absolutely no interest in Christianity, but what a difference there might be if we shone as we should shine as the light that is needed all around us.
We often sing, Shine Jesus Shine, fill this land with the Father’s glory, and he is wanting to shine, he is wanting his Father’s glory to be seen and to be known, and how does it happen? Through us as we become both the salt of the earth, and the light of the world, it is then that Jesus said that ‘they (that is the world) will see your good works and will give glory to your Father who is in heaven.’