The Wattage of Our Walk

"Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 5:16)

Let's face it, beloved! The world in which we live lies in the deadly grip of utter spiritual darkness! In fact, the Apostle Paul referred to the world without Jesus Christ as "the domain of darkness" (Colossians 1:13). Imagine, then, a world and its inhabitants not only living in but reveling in the darkness of sinfulness and rebellion against God. Not only can lost mankind not save himself, he does not even want to!

As dark as is the sinful lostness of this world, so bright is the "light" that God Himself is. The Apostle John declares this pure quality of Holy God in the following way:

"And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5)

Into a world of darkness came Jesus of Nazareth, the only begotten Son of God, announcing to lost mankind that He is Himself "the light of the world" (John 8:12). He came to bring the light of God's own personal holiness into the black void of man's sinful condition. You see, beloved, it is so very important for us to understand that "darkness" is not a color, but a void. It is what is left when the "light" of God is not present. And Jesus as "the light of the world" called men and women and boys and girls to Himself.

So what does that have to do with you and me? Simply that, as our focal verse makes so clear, you and I as followers of Jesus Christ are ourselves "the light of the world." Specifically, we are to "reflect" the light of Jesus into our world. And that reality is precisely where we run headlong into the issue of the wattage of our walk.

Have you ever noticed the difference between a lamp with a 25 watt bulb and one with a 100 watt bulb? Amazing, isn't it? One gives a soft, often almost imperceptible light, more of a glow, and the other beams brightly and sends its rays into the darkest part of the room. So dark is the darkness of this world's sin, beloved, that Jesus needs for us to let our light so shine into it that we shine with the highest possible spiritual wattage! You see, the "light" of our personal walk must first be bright enough to pierce the darkness of the sin around us. In other words, our "light" must be brighter than the darkness of the sinful world in which we live!

Just what is the "wattage of your walk," beloved? Are you sending forth a 25 watt "glow" or a 100 watt "beam"? How brightly are you shining today for Jesus Christ? Why not polish your reflectors and start burning brightly? Men need to find the light of Jesus Christ and your "beam" is what God wants to use to draw them to Himself!

Ron