How much conflict, trouble, and strife could be avoided if we who are believers in Christ were better beacons of his example? My favorite verse is Matthew 5:16. "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."
I was reminded of this in a recent conversation in which Pastor Tom Ascol of Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral, Florida was quoted as saying something to the effect of, "Two things we should do: 1) become better Christians, and 2) act like it." The context was in regards to parental training or something of the kind, and the admonishment was that a lot of the time and effort expended in learning techniques and approaches would not really be necessary if we could execute number 1 and 2 above.
Does Christ's spirit come through in all we do? Do we "Let our light so shine?"
If we don't (and who among us doesn't fail here in some degree?), it is because we are forgetting where this "light" comes from. That light is reflected from God above. It was imparted to us by His glory through the finished work of Christ on the cross.
Maybe it is too easy for us to forget where we would be without God's grace.
Maybe we lose touch with how messed up and helpless we are on our own.
Maybe we get a little too caught up in our own sense of the injustices perpetrated against us by others.
Maybe we think that light is based upon our own merits or something great we have done.
When it comes to that light, we are as pieces of chrome reflecting His glory like bumpers in the sun. We cannot boast of the shine ourselves, for we are not its source. How silly is a bumper that struts? All we can do is reflect it by living out our lives in ways evidentiary of His grace. May we seek to do that more so each day, becoming better Christians and acting more like it, so men will glorify our Father which is in heaven.
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