THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE
by: Bette Owens
Jesus said in John 9:5, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” But, He also said in Matthew 5:14, “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.”
I was humming the song, “This Little Light Of Mine,” and then I started thinking about my light and the condition is it in. Actually, I am the light. My next thought was, whatever condition I am in is the condition of my light. Is my light shining as bright as it should through the battles of life? Does my light give light to others? When others are struggling and having a hard time seeing clearly, is my light there, shining brightly and helping them through life? What are some problems that can make our light flicker, go dim or not shine like it should? I simply started to think about the light bulbs all around us.
A light bulb not connected to the main power source will be a problem. If you never have accepted Christ as your Saviour, then your light will not be able to shine. Salvation is the power source that makes the light glow. Jesus Christ is our main power source, and without Him we can not shine. Without Him there is no power for us to shine.
Maybe you are saved, connected to the power source, but there is a bad connection. I know I say it over and over again, but if we don’t faithfully read God’s Word or allow God’s Word to get into us, we will not have the strength or power we need to shine for Him. The less time we spend in God’s Word, or spending no time with our power source, is like a broken wire or a switch turned off, which will stop the flow of power. Unless we get into God’s Word and spend time with Him, our light will go off and eventually be of no effect. I remember times when we had a bad headlight in our van. My husband would have to get out and hit the headlight, sometimes shake it a little and it would come on. This went on for sometime until hitting and shaking did not work any more and he had to change the bulb. This was just like depending only on preaching to get God’s Word. The preaching shakes us up and we brighten, but only for awhile. How many times in our lives do we have to be shaken and hit before we realize we need to change some things? We need to make sure that God’s Word is connected directly to us and flowing through us. Changing the headlight was a very simple fix so that the power could produce light. Reading God’s Word is a simple solution. This is true in our spiritual life; it is usually just the simple little things that we need to change, like not neglecting God’s Word, taking time to pray, obeying and putting God first.
You might be plugged in, you have accepted Christ and your power is on, but your light is still very dim. Our light might not be shining very bright because there is dirt on the bulb, we have a dirty globe. The globe is the part of the bulb that the light shines through. The things of the world will very quickly make our globe dirty and dim the light. This is a Christian who reads the Bible and prays, but also continues in sin. Our bodies are the temple of God. Our bodies are what the Holy Spirit shines through. Sin allows the filth and cares of the world to put dust and dirt on our globe so God’s light cannot shine through. Sin can even stop us from realizing how dusty our globes are. It seems like I can dust my light fixtures or take them down and wash them, but the dust just keeps collecting right back on them. The same thing happens to us spiritually and we have to keep cleaning ourselves up. Every day we must clean off the dirt and dust. This world constantly clouds our thinking, dirties our lives, and dims the light of Jesus. We not only have to read God’s Word, but must make sure we follow its directions to clean us up and to live our lives. How we think, what we wear, where we go, how we treat others, everything we do and every step we take in life needs to line up with God’s Word. A good bulb is one whose light brightens the darkness outside, but the darkness outside does not dim the bulb.
Sometimes our light doesn’t shine bright because of a bad bulb. Oh, the power is on, but somewhere in the bulb there is a short. Sin can also short-circuit the power. Sometimes right before a bulb burns out it starts to flicker, it shines bright and flickers, goes dull and then shines bright again. It will continue to flicker back and forth until eventually it burns completely out. So many Christians are like a light bulb going bad. We shine bright and are busy serving in church and then something comes along and we start to flicker. We have a problem and start flickering on and off, then we get over it and start shining again. We get into God’s Word and start talking to God, confess our sin and start getting faithful to church again. Then heartache comes, unjust treatment comes, things just don’t seem fair, it could even be a time you just feel lonely by standing alone for right, so we start to flicker. When a bulb starts to flicker it is because there is a weak place in the flow of power, there is a problem somewhere. A flickering bulb is a sign of trouble. Eventually the bulb will continue to weaken and the power will not be able to shine through and the bulb will burn out. The same thing happens in our Christian life. When we start to flicker, become unfaithful or inconsistent, we need to look for the problem. It is less difficult to be consistent than to flicker on and off. Inconsistency will eventually lead to burn out. When a light bulb keeps flickering it really isn’t much good because it will not last long. Just like we need to have a consistent light that we can count on to shine, we also need to be a consistent light shining for Jesus Christ.
When we aren’t a consistent light, others will be effected by our flickering. Our families need to see a consistent light. Your husband and children need someone whom they can count on to be consistent, not one that is on today and off tomorrow. A flickering light is actually very annoying. We are like a flashlight to others. What good is a flashlight that is weak or flickering when there is trouble and you need it? Others need to see someone who consistently shines no matter what comes their way. Others may think you are a fanatic, others may think you are too strict, others may think a little dust won’t hurt, and others may think God will understand if we are too busy for church, but you are actually the light that they need to see. Others need to see a lady who loves God and is connected to the power source of God’s Word and will not let anything keep her light from shining. They need to see a Christian lady who consistently works at keeping her light bright and shining. Perfect? No, but a woman who fears God and believes His Word and follows Him and Him alone. Her loyalty is to Jesus and no one else, because He is the only way she can shine.
This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
Let it shine till Jesus comes, I’m going to let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
Mrs. Bette Owens
Pastor’s wife
Westside Baptist Church
Pacifica, CA