The Light in You



"Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness." (Luke 11:33-36)

Today we continue our Lenten journey in Luke 11: 29–53. As the passage opens, we see Jesus warning the crowds who continue to grow around him. Jesus called them "an evil generation" who "seeks for a sign" (v. 29). Jesus reminded the crowds thatthe people of Nineveh were sent a sign from God through Jonah's preaching. He said that the people of Nineveh chose to respond to God's message with repentance. Next, Jesus reminded the crowds that the "queen of the South," who 1 Kings 10:1 and following tells us is the Queen of Sheba, travelled a long way to "test" Solomon. When she heard of "the wisdom of Solomon," she believed. Conversely, the crowds gathering around Jesus were hearing the Gospel from Jesus Himself and rejecting it. Jesus warned the crowds that there would be a judgment upon their generation for "behold, something greater than Jonah is here."

Jesus continued by drawing a correlation between His message and a light (v. 33). No one lights a lamp only to cover it up, and the light is put on display for all to see (v. 34). If you see Jesus as the Messiah, you will be full of His light; but if you do not see Jesus for who He truly is, you will remain in darkness (v. 35). Be mindful to stay focused on the true light of Christ (v. 36). When you stay focused on Christ, your entire being will be full of Christ's light, and it will shine on all of those you meet.

Jesus is not keeping the light of His message a secret here; instead, He puts it on display for all to see that He is the long-awaited Messiah. In the verses that follow, Jesus gave a series of "woes" to the Pharisees and lawyers in the crowd. In a nutshell, Jesus exposed their spiritual blindness, all the while warning of their impending judgment should they choose to continue to reject Him.

This passage serves as a reminder to Christians and a call to action. This Lenten season let us ask God to examine our hearts and remove any spiritual blind spots that we may have hidden within so that we may shine the light of Christ.

LET US PRAY - Heavenly Father, thank you for sending the light of Christ to a dark world. During this Lenten season, continue to remove any spiritual blindness that might be in our hearts. God, allows us to be lights that shine for You. In Jesus' name. Amen.



Location: Exmouth, Reino Unido

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Danger

Image
If you’re reading this right now then be warned. This devotional to spiritual warfare is a bit dangerous, not to you, but to your way of life. If ignorance is bliss, it aims to destroy that bliss forever. Imagine living in a house infested with termites. For years you never noticed them. Just beyond reach, just out of sight, they lived, they ate, they spawned, they festered. For all those years you blindly ate, played, and slept, unaware of the lurking presence right beneath your head at night. If you live in a house full of termites is it better to know or is it simpler to live in ignorance? If you prefer ignorance, then stop reading right now. If you don’t want to know about the spiritual forces that have been eating away at the foundation of your life and family like termites, then there’s no need to go any farther. Ignorance is in fact bliss, at least for the short term. This book’s aim is nothing short of ripping up the base boards, pulling out the sheetrock and exposing the d...
Read more

Worship

Image
Text: Psalm 104.24-35 Psalm 104 starts and ends with the words, “Praise the Lord, my soul”. The beginning and the end are a proclamation of praise to the Almighty God. In fact, the whole psalm is a review of the greatness of God in creation and, therefore, a meditation on God’s providence. To consider such things, helps us to draw closer to God and worship Him. If we are sincere with ourselves, our daily situations (children, work, news, stress, etc.) can take our attention away from God. It is not easy to just plug-in and worship the Lord. I find myself missing so much of God’s creation, because my mind wanders off to my daily concerns. My wife calls me to really see the beauty around us, otherwise I would miss it. How easy it is for us to be carried away and not once lift our eyes to the Lord, and worship Him that created the earth. Let us open our spiritual eyes, God has revealed through the authors of the Psalms that all of creation is called to worship. It is not just appreciation...
Read more

Fight Together

Image
Stand . . . Take . . . Pray. Ephesians 6:10, 14, 18 The final step in successful spiritual warfare is one that is as critical as the others but it is far too easily missed. The last step isn’t a specific verse or a piece of armor mentioned, but rather a verb tense. When most Americans read the armor of God passage in Ephesians 6, we read it through the lens of our individualistic, self-focused mindset. We worry about ourselves first and foremost. As harsh as it sounds, everyone else can fend for themselves. But that’s not the intention at all behind Paul’s instructions on spiritual warfare. When Paul tells us to stand firm, to take the pieces of armor, to pray, the verb is not in the singular form, it’s in the plural. To use Southern language, it’s as if he’s saying, “Y’all stand, y’all take, y’all pray.” Why is this important? Because too often our defeat in spiritual warfare comes from the fact that we try and engage in it on our own. And please understand this: if the enemy ha...
Read more