The darkness of sin is around us. It is heavy, intense, and ugly. A simple glance around us will reveal this darkness that is infiltrating our world, our homes and churches, and many times, even our hearts. But often times we don’t even recognize it. The light has dimmed, but we’ve gotten used to the dark.

Sin is no longer clearly defined. What’s wrong for one person may not be wrong for another. Darkness and evil is simply what each person has decided it to be, because we no longer take God’s word as truth. Instead of firmly standing on the commands and teachings of Jesus Christ, we base our decisions on our emotions or by what is socially acceptable.

My friend, there are many churches across our nation who are filled with the skeletons of Christians who are spiritually dead. They have lost the light. They may as well be buried five feet under, because the weight of their sin has snuffed the very life out of them. They dutifully sit on the pews and participate in the activities, but there’s no life within their hearts. They’re dead. The darkness has triumphed.

The other week, our family was able to take a few hours out of our ministry tour to visit St. George’s coastal island. We drove our motorhome across the big, four-mile-long bridge to visit the beautiful, sandy beach as well as the St. George lighthouse.

As we read the facts about the renovated lighthouse, I was intrigued by the history of it and how essential a lighthouse was to the sea mariners.

We climbed the winding staircase until we reached the ladder which led to the lantern room at the top of the lighthouse. As we looked out over the coast, we tried to imagine all the work that was involved those many years ago to keep this beacon shining brightly.

It made me think of the similarities between our lives as Christians and what the functions of a lighthouse were. Just as a lighthouse, God created us to be that beacon of light to everyone around us. And let me assure you, this doesn’t happen by default.

As we talk to men and women in prison, they usually tell us that it was the small choices they made that took them down the path which eventually led to their incarceration.

A lighthouse that shined it’s life-saving beacon to others was always the result of intentional focus by the lighthouse keeper. A lighthouse keeper had to work hard to keep the light shining. He had to strategically prepare, as well as putting in the hard work of carrying the heavy cans of oil up the long flight of stairs. He would make sure the wick was trimmed to prevent any smoke from clouding the windows in the lantern room. He knew that any negligence on his part could cost the lives of other individuals.

As believers, we need to be intentional about shining our lights. Our light will only clearly shine if we have done the “work” of refueling and getting rid of the “smoke” that hinders our lights. Have you been deliberate in your walk with Jesus or have you allowed sin and wrong responses to darken your light?

Matthew 5:15-16 contains a command from Jesus: “Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. LET YOUR LIGHT SO SHINE before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

Is the light of Jesus shining brightly in your heart and penetrating the darkness around you? Has the sin of materialism and complacency hindered your light? Shining the light of Jesus is more than our intellectual consent to truth, but it’s daily making deliberate choices and actions in obeying Jesus.

It is time to bring the LIGHT and LIFE of Jesus back into our churches, but it begins with a single ray of light. Yours. And mine.

~Cindy (For The Mullett Family)

“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.” 2 Cor. 4:6