Fall
1993
Bearers of Light
Wade E Taylor
"You are the light of the world" Matt 5:14a.
Darkness is dispelled by light. A bright lantern brought
into a well lit room accomplishes little, but a candle in
a dark place lightens all that is near it.
When the true light, the anointed Word of God is made manifest,
darkness is dispelled, not by attacking the darkness, but
by displacing it as it shines forth through us.
"Let your light thus shine before men, so that they
may see
your upright works, and glorify your Father who is in the
heavens" Matt 5:16 Darby.
Note our Lord's words, "that they may see." No
matter how great the darkness within the lives of those to
whom we witness, any one of us who truly knows the Lord can
qualify as a light bearer. The light we have, no matter how
small it may be, is greater than the darkness within them.
We may feel limited or unable to speak, but "ministry"
is not confined to preaching from a pulpit. Regardless of
our calling or ministry, or even the lack of it, at the very
root of our Christian experience, each and every one of us
is called to shine forth His life through our lives.
We are called by our Lord to shine creative light out into
the darkness that is around us. Rather than sitting back and
judging the darkness, we are to bring light into it. Light
shines the brightest where it is the darkest. In a baseball
field with brilliant floodlights, a lit candle serves no purpose,
but on a darkened field, it can be seen for a great distance.
It is easy for us to say we do not feel spiritual, but the
Lord commanded the light to shine out of darkness - even our
(seeming) darkness. Thus none of us are exempt from His command.
"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness,
hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have
this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the
power may be of GOD, and not of us" II Cor 4:6-7.
In our darkest hour, the little bit of light we have will
be the brightest, for in our weakness He will come forth in
power. He commands the light to shine even out of the darkness
within us. The handiwork and miracle working power of God
is beyond our comprehension. By His Word, God brought forth
light into this earth at the beginning of creation (Gen 1:3-4),
and He is doing so now within us, His earthen vessels.
The Lord clearly shows us the way to receive His light to
dispel the darkness that is within us.
"The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine
eye be
single, thy whole body shall be full of light" Matt 6:22.
Our Lord stresses the importance of our having a "single
eye." This can be compared to the eye of a dove, which
sees only that which is directly before it. Jesus was able
to set His face as a flint towards the purpose that was before
Him (See Isaiah 50:7 and Luke 9:51).
A dove, the symbol of the Holy Spirit, descended upon Jesus
at the time of His baptism. The Holy Spirit, which dwells
within us, has a profoundly singular vision; for His sole
purpose is to reveal Jesus to, and then through us.
If our eye be single, our whole body will be filled with
light. What a glorious promise! As our earthen vessel is increasingly
filled with light, we will shine brighter and brighter that
all may see and receive His light as they look upon us; for
their eyes will behold in and through us, the life of Christ
Jesus, our Lord.