Learning to be the Light

You have my husband to thank for this week's song...I was worried that I wouldn't find a video for it, it's fairly new and I couldn't find it....but my hubby did!  This week's song is by a great band called NewWorldSon, and I'm amazed that I haven't posted one of their other songs already.  The song is called "Learning to be the Light," and you'll probably recognize that it's a bit of a follow up to last week's song and a reflection of what's been going through my heart and my brain these last few weeks. 

OK, so we know that Jesus was the light of the world, there's numerous Bible references to this, songs that we sing ...even today in Church we sang "Here I am to Worship," which begins...."Light of the world, you stepped out into darkness, open my eyes, let me see..."  He brought and continues to bring light to a dark world.  But we can bring light to this world too....and Jesus wants us to!  Do we need to go back to our childhood..."this little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine"?

This past week I was studying the beginning of Acts, before Jesus leaves this world to return to heaven.  He says:

You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
Acts 1: 8

I talked last week about how when you are living life the way Jesus taught, you can feel an energy, a power...and it's such a wonderful feeling when you realize that this is the Holy Spirit alive within you....the Light within you.  This power can give you abilities that you didn't think you had, skills that enable you to do things you thought you were never meant to do. (On a personal note, who would have thought that a former engineer who struggled in english classes in college would be writing a blog about God and music 15 years later?)

But what makes you want to be the Light? to be a witness? These words capture it so well:

It's so much brighter living in your world
Savior what you did for me
You gave me something I want everyone to see

When you feel God's grace, when you receive the hope that comes with it, you're living in a brighter world, and you will want to share it.  Whether it's talking about God's love with someone, or showing them God's love through you're own heart.  It's not about preaching...it's about loving.

When a heart is cold as ice
You can't melt it with advice
No one wants to listen to
A list of things they shouldn't do
So I build a city on a hill
And I light a candle on the sill
Knowing you'll be always knocking at the door
Oh God I just want to love on everyone
All I have is yours to give so let the people come

We're all on a journey here, still learning, struggling, and hopefully growing.  I hope you will take this challenge with me and learn to be more of a Light in this world.  It's definitely not easy all the time, but it's what Jesus wants us to be, and I think he knew it would improve our lives here on earth.  I like to think of it as a privilege, a blessing, an honour to have been given this knowledge and Light so early in my life that I don't have to live as much of my life in darkness.  Let's share this blessing with the world around us.