By Carol Round –“You are the world’s light—a city on a hill, glowing in the night for all to see. Don’t hide your light! Let it shine for all; let your good deeds glow for all to see, so that they will praise your heavenly Father”—Matthew 5:14-16 (TLB).
Grabbing a scrap of paper, I scribbled down the following statement: “The only way a light can grow is by passing it on.”
I was watching a clean secular movie when one of the main characters made this statement to another character, who was struggling with his life choices. While I can’t remember anything else about the movie, I recall this line of dialogue. Even after writing it down, the statement stuck with me for days. When I turn on the lights in a room, the statement comes to mind.
Immediately, I connected the statement to scripture. Grabbing my Bible, I looked up different scriptures about “light.” The first mention of light is in Genesis 1:3. “Then God said, ‘Let there be light.’ And light appeared”(TLB).
What God Said in Genesis
Rereading Genesis 1, I was humbled. I’d forgotten how much God had created on the first day. Genesis 1:1-5 reveals He created the heavens and earth, the waters, and the light on the first day of creation. Our Heavenly Father brought forth those four things in one day “from nothing.”
One of the antonyms for light or opposite is darkness. Before God created light on the first day, only darkness existed. Genesis 1:1 reads, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”
God didn’t need a light to see. He is light.
Light as a Symbol
According to an article by Christian writer Amanda Williams, a complete analysis of the word “light” in scripture, the word appears 267 times across the Bible. Using digital copies of four of the most widely used English Bible translations and a natural language processing technique, the algorithms scoured through over 31,000 verses to discover and tally up all references to light. A manual review of the texts by a team of theology experts then accounted for all the intricacies of biblical language.
Williams adds, “Light is an important concept in the Bible symbolizing truth, goodness, wisdom, hope, and the very presence of God.”
The very presence of God is reinforced in John 8:12 when Jesus says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life”(NIV).
The Light of Life
English biblical scholar and theologian G.V. Wigram once said, “Christ cannot light a single spark in the heart of an individual without that little, tiny spark being for God. He gives the light and ordained that every ray of it reflects something for God.”
We cannot let our light shine for God unless we admit our need for Him. Once we’ve surrendered our will, it is then the light can shine through the cracks of our sinful lives.
Watchman Nee, one of China’s most influential Christian church planters, leaders, and evangelists during the twentieth century, wrote: “To secure one’s freedom the Christian must experience God’s light which is God’s truth.” Once we’re free of the darkness, God can use us to spread the light of His truth. As we spread His light wherever we go, it will continue to grow as we pass it on.
I always love hearing from my readers. Please e-mail me at [email protected] with your thoughts or visit my blog for more inspiration at www.carolaround.com. If you need a speaker or workshop leader, contact me at the above e-mail address or through my website. I’d be delighted to hear from you.
Photo credit: Johannes Plenio on Unsplash
