Lenten Devo #20—Light of the World

"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)

It's easy for us to fall into bragging, but letting your light shine before others isn't the same thing. Bragging is about drawing attention toward yourself and your merits, efforts, works, and worthy. But letting your light shine is about letting Christ shine in and through you. It points away from you and toward our Father in heaven.

That's one of the reasons deeds cannot be separated from faith. The one who says he has faith but doesn't live it out—that's a hollow faith, an empty faith. There's no real light there. But faith that works itself out in deeds of mercy and compassion brings real light. It shows other people what's real and points the way toward the one, true Creator. Yes, we must share our faith verbally, for there is no gospel without speech. But we must also act out our faith if it is to serve as a credible witness, if it is to be light rather than hypocritical darkness.

And of course, the last piece is prayer. We let our light shine and pray that people would indeed give glory to our Father, recognizing him as the one true source of all that is good, and repenting of their unbelief.

So we must act, we must speak, and we must pray.

Who are you praying for today?