The Light Within

“We are, therefore, Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” 2 Corinthians 5:20

In His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, Jesus says something that would have been strange to those who had been following and listening to Him. He said to the crowd in Matthew 5:14, “You are the light of the world.” That was a strange statement because earlier, as recorded in John 8:12, Jesus had said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” First Jesus said He is the light of the world. Now He is saying we are the light of the world. Which is right? They both are.

When Jesus told His followers they were the light of the world, the light He was talking about is Him. He is the true light of the world; but a follower of Jesus has Jesus within him. The light that He is, is the light that is in you and in me. What He wants us to do is to let Him shine His light through us. This is exactly what the Apostle Paul meant in 2 Corinthians 5:20 when he said that we are Christ’s ambassadors. We are the carriers of Christ’s light in the world. God is making His appeal of reconciliation through our lives as we shine His light.

You don’t have to look a certain way, have a certain degree, or hold a certain position to be a light. You just allow the light of Jesus that is within you to come out of you. When you give your life to Jesus you have, in effect, swallowed the light. You don’t only have the life of Jesus in you; you have the light of Jesus in you.

It is amazing to me who Jesus was speaking to in His Sermon on the Mount. Where was this “Mount?” It was in northern Galilee. He was talking to villagers, fishermen, farmers, and wageworkers. He wasn’t speaking to the philosophers in Athens, the generals in Rome, or the PhDs in Alexandria. He was talking to the Beverly Hillbillies. He was speaking to Mayberry! Somehow, we’ve gotten the idea that there are just a few people who are the light of the world. God’s plan is to take ordinary people and send them to other ordinary people to share an extraordinary message of light. People need to see Christ’s light through our lives so that they can leave spiritual darkness and come into the light of God’s truth and love.

You don’t think you are important? Think again. The only hope for this world to come out of the darkness of separation from God is if they see the light that is living within us.

Dear Father, I want the light of Christ to shine brightly in my life. I want the fact that I follow you to be obvious to others, and I want to be diligent about sharing that light with other people who haven't experienced it yet. Please give me the boldness and the opportunity to do so. In Jesus' name, amen.