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)
While I had sweaty palms, a knot in my stomach, a blockade forming in my throat, the Master of Ceremonies dutifully stepped to the microphone and read my bio in an attempt to construct a platform of credibility before I moved to the podium.
This was true at the start of the ministry of Jesus. Matthew 4:15, 16 draws from the well of the prophet Isaiah and proclaims to all mankind, “The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.”
That was it… the next words of Matthew 4 declare, “From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’” (4:17).
Light described what the world will never extinguish.
Light was the resume used to define the credibility of the Son of God. The venue for the explosion of this light was “the region and shadow of death.” Yes, light for those of us who have an address enveloped in suffocating darkness.
Then Jesus changes roles and introduces us. And as He does so in the Matthew 5 passage above, He transfers to us the privilege of being the ambassadors of the credential that defines Him.
We become the penetrating presence of the living light. We obliterate what evil invents. We shine… and the city has no explanation except for the power of God.
His bio becomes ours. Yes, the Light introduces us. When we live as He plans for us to live, there is nothing – no power of hell or scheme of man – that can overcome what God ignites.
“On them a light has dawned.”
Indeed, a bio for all eternity.
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