And He was saying to them, “A lamp is not brought to be put under a basket, or under a bed, is it? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand? For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
When you step into a dark room, one of the first things you do is find the light switch. We know the value of light because of how immediately and frequently we depend on it. Even our placement of light matters. As Jesus pointed out in this passage, we do not put our light under a basket or hide it in the corner of the room; instead, the light is placed where it will illuminate everything around.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:5, Paul calls those who are in Christ “[children] of light.” Because we have Jesus, we have the light of God within us. This is not something for us to hide or contain but to share in light of who He is. In verse 8, Paul added this instruction: “But since we are of the day, let’s be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.” Paul describes living in the light not just as a message we share out of obligation but as something that we put on like armor.
We have been given the Light of the World. So many people are searching for answers, and so many are suffering from the painful effects of sin. They need to know the hope we have in Christ! When we know the value of the hope we have and allow it to change our lives, we illuminate the hope within us for all to see.
- Who in your life needs to know the hope of Christ? How have you shown it to him or her? How can you show it in different ways moving forward?
- What are some ways we hide the light that Christ has given us? What would it look like to live as children of the light?
- Pray and ask God to make His light shine through you as you share His hope with others.
