Thoughts for the Day

Jesus said, 'No-one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar, but on the lampstand so that those who enter may see the light.Your eye is the lamp of your body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but if it is not healthy, your body is full of darkness. Therefore consider whether the light in you is not darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be as full of light as when a lamp gives you light with its rays.'

(Church in Wales Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

This little parable is full of symbolism and meaning. Years ago I walked into the church where I worked at the start of the service and placed a box over a large candle which had been placed on a tall lamp-stand. There were lots of puzzled looks, but after reading the words from Luke's Gospel, it began to make sense, and instead of a Sermon we discussed how we felt at my action and what Jesus might have meant. The following came up:

• Jesus seems to be saying that sometimes we hide the light in us - perhaps we are embarrassed to show others through our actions, or to tell others that we are Christians. We should be happy to speak about church, and show others how being a Christians affects our life.
• Or perhaps we hide what Jesus tells us - we hear the words but we don't allow the light inside us, it just goes over our head - and we don't act on Jesus' message.

There were other comments, and I will come back to this little parable again in the future. Today let us not hide the light of God in our lives let us enjoy our faith and naturally allow others to see how it affects our life.

Lord Jesus,
Light of the world,
may we welcome You into our life,
may we allow You to influence us,
and may we show that joy to those around us
this day, tomorrow, and in the future.
Amen.