And you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place. (2 Pet. 1:19)
THE LITTLE BOY WAS ASKED the meaning of the word saint. He responded that a saint was one whom the light shines through. His parents were puzzled. He explained that there were times when he sat in church and looked up at the stained glass windows depicting various leaders of the church through the ages. When he asked who they were, his parents told him they were Saint Paul, Saint Peter, Saint Thomas, Charles Wesley, John Wesley, and others. So he came to think of saints as people with the light shining through them.
Light serves as a guide. When I walk in the darkness, I carry a flashlight so I am aware of what lies ahead of me. Airport runways are lit as a guide for airplanes landing and departing. Driving down the highway at night with headlights off could prove fatal.
Jesus said that we are “the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14). Peter wrote that we have the word of the prophets as “a light shining in a dark place.”
We are called to be those through whom the light shines. However, it is not our light that shines through us, but the light of Christ, who dwells in our hearts. He wants others to see Him and find the blessings of the Christ-filled life.
Find a dark place and shine the light of Christ in it.
Drexel Rankin is a retired ordained minister who served in Indiana, Alabama, and Kentucky. He and his wife, Patty, live in Louisville, Kentucky.
