HIDE
IT UNDER A BUSHEL? NO!
One of the more popular children’s songs
is This
Little Christian Light of Mine. While the song is most often sung by
children, its message is far from being childish. Let’s have a look a the much
needed lessons of this well-known song (adapted from an article by Cherie
Vestal).
THIS LITTLE CHRISTIAN LIGHT OF MINE: I’M
GONNA LET IT SHINE!
1. Light,
by its very nature is designed to shine.
2. Jesus
is the true light (Jn. 1:4-9).
3. Yet
the light of Christ is hated by many (Jn. 3:19-21).
4. Jesus,
however, is the only way to avoid darkness (Jn. 8:12; 11:9-10).
5. Jesus
wants His followers to be “sons of light” (Jn. 12:35-36, 46).
HIDE IT UNDER A BUSHEL? NO!
1. We
need to make sure that nothing has been allowed to cover our light (II Cor.
13:5-6).
a. Religious
self-deception is an extremely powerful force toward personal destruction (Acts
23:1; I Tim. 4:1-2).
b. There
will be those even on Judgment Day who still abide in self-deception (Matt.
7:21-23).
2. The
bushel of worry and doubt—undue concern (Jas. 1:6; Matt. 25:24-30; cf. I Cor.
10:13; Heb. 11:1; II Tim. 1:12; Phil. 4:6-7, 13; Ps. 27:1; 42:5).
a. Worry
and doubt cause us to cast a negative reflection on the character of our God
(Matt. 6:25-34).
b. To
be absorbed in selfish worries and doubts robs us of our effectiveness,
disheartens others, and often leads to strife.
3. The
bushel of “business”—personal concerns that are more important than the things
of God (Lk. 14:15-20; 18:9-14, 18-27; cf. Lk. 2:49; Jn. 4:34; Mk. 1:29-31;
Matt. 19:13-15; Jn. 2:1-2; Matt. 11:28-30).
a. Our
era has created many such formidable baskets.
b. We
can even be so busy with “religion” that we never get around to Christlikeness.
4. The
bushel of inconsistency—disagreement between the things we do in life (Matt.
23:1-3; 13-33; cf. I Pet. 1:22; Philip. 2:13-15).
a. Is
our “church face” a contrast to our “daily face”?
b. Do
we think that doing some things well will make up for other glaring failures?
DON’T LET SATAN WOOSH IT OUT!
1. If
our lamp is covered for too long, it may go out.
2. Keep
the wick attached to the lamp base, the source of true power (I Jn. 1:7; II Cor. 3:18; II Tim. 3:16-17;
Jer. 10:23).
3. Place
our lamp high up on God’s stand, not low down on our own (Isa. 55:9).
4. Protect
the flame by always using the globe (Jude 24; I Tim. 6:6-8; Phil. 4:11-13).
LET IT SHINE ALL THE TIME!
1. Proverbs
4:18.
2. I
John 1:7
The light that comes from God must shine in
us if the world is to see how to walk (II Cor. 4:7). We must not let the light
be hidden! Satan must not be allowed to put out our flame! We must shine all
the time!
Edwin
12/24/2000
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