“Again Jesus spoke to
them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in
darkness, but will have the light of life,’” (John 8:12) and in John 9:5 He
said: “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Now that Jesus
is not in the world anymore, He has passed the light on: “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,” (Matthew
5:14-16).
The passage in John
9:5 above is preceded by the following: “We must work the works of Him who sent
me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work,” (John 9:4). It is
clear that Jesus felt urgency about the work to be done and He certainly did
not let grass grow under His feet. “Now there are also many other things that
Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world
itself could not contain the books that would be written,” (John 21:25).
Our light shines
whether we call attention to it or not. We do not have a choice. Jesus said
‘you are the light of the world’. He did not say, ‘be the
light if you feel like it’. The Lord has pre-planned the works He has in mind
for us. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them,” (Ephesians 2:10).
The works Jesus did
were undertaken in His stride. He went through life ‘minding His own business’,
so to speak, and then the opportunities for miracles and teaching arose. He did
not seek them out. However, He was prepared for them, since He
started His day in unity with His Father and walked in
the Spirit all the time, which is why His works happened to be great.
He had great faith.
Our works should also
be undertaken in our stride. They may not appear to be great to us, but to the
Lord they are great. “And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of
cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means
lose his reward,” (Matthew 10:42). Let us, therefore, be light to the world. I
always try to make people feel special at work - to add a little light and joy
to their day. When children’s medicines are collected I say things that lift
them up and always call for a high five. Their little faces blossom and when
they come in next time I can see the expectation in their eyes. When we
participate in street children outreaches in Cape Town, we always play with the
children, causing joy that they would think back on, and then remember that
Jesus played with them. We may have given them some of their only opportunities
for joy and fun. I also try to make my adult customers and my staff feel
special. Whenever the opportunity arises I make it known that they need Jesus
and that Jesus is special to me, so they know that this joy comes from Jesus.
How about you?
We do not necessarily
need to preach the gospel. We could just talk about what happened to us and
live the joy that is in us, and the light will shine.
Lord, please show me
how to let my light shine.
