30 January 2014 - lightheaded

30 January 2014 - lightheaded 

“Is a lamp brought in to be placed under a bushel basket
or under a bed, and not to be placed on a lampstand?

Jesus is the light of the world.  We shouldn't try to keep any part of our lives from his healing light because "there is nothing hidden except to be made visible; nothing secret except to come to light."  The light can be initially unpleasant if our houses are in disorder.  But in the light these messes can be cleaned.  If we choose to ignore them we continue to trip over the wages of sin in our lives.  We should also be willing to let this light shine from us to those around us.  That is not to say we go around condemning others.  The light doesn't come into the world for condemnation.  But it is clear about what is sin.  It is clear about what is keeping us from living abundant life.  It reveals the things over which we trip.  Paul regards the things he once counted as gain as garbage now that the light of Jesus shines in him (cf. Phi. 3:8). 

We are reluctant to let this let expose our houses because it wounds our pride deeply.  We are revealed as the bad housekeepers we are.  The guest who brings the lamp into our house is so exulted.  How can we subject him to our mess?  Yet he is not shocked.  This is the reason he is here.

“Who am I, Lord GOD, and who are the members of my house,
that you have brought me to this point?
Yet even this you see as too little, Lord GOD;

We need to accept the blessings which God wants to give us.  We must not reject them out of pride and fear.  When the king himself comes to our humble abodes to clean them we must accept this grace of abundance in humility.    As our house as cleaned we become more free to move around.  We become more free to come and go.  We can bring others in and go out to them without fear.  We can share the light Jesus shares with us.

The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you,
and still more will be given to you.
To the one who has, more will be given;
from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

The LORD wants us to carry his light to others.  When we have his light in our own house he gives us more to share with others.  If we are relying on the light that filters in through the cracks in our boarded windows we need to know that this light will eventually go out.  In the his light we see the LORD set people free and we come to trust him more and more completely:

And now, Lord GOD, you are God and your words are truth;
you have made this generous promise to your servant.
Do, then, bless the house of your servant
that it may be before you forever;
for you, Lord GOD, have promised,
and by your blessing the house of your servant
shall be blessed forever.”

The LORD wants to dwell with us but he cannot dwell in darkness.  God is "the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change" (cf. Jam. 1:17).  After all, "what fellowship has light with darkness?" (cf. 2 Cor. 6:14).  They simply can't coexist.  So let us not hide the light!  To do so is to reject his very presence. Let it blaze in our thoughts, in our words, and in our deeds.  He himself is that light which shines on those living in darkness and the shadow of death (cf. Luk. 1:78).  May his glory dwell in our land!

For the LORD has chosen Zion,
he prefers her for his dwelling:
“Zion is my resting place forever;
in her I will dwell, for I prefer her.”