I love to tell stories that can impact our lives. This is one of my favorite stories.
Alexander Papaderos, a Doctor of Philosophy, worked for many years trying to bring peace between the bitterly divided countries of Europe after WWII. His motivation for doing so stems from his childhood and a very odd event that took place. “When I was a small child,” he said, “during the war, we were poor and lived in a remote village. One day, on the road, I found the broken pieces of a mirror. A German motorcycle had been wrecked in that place. I kept one, the largest piece. By scratching it on a stone, I made it round. I began to play with it as a toy and became fascinated by the fact that I could reflect light into dark places where the sun would never shine – in deep holes and crevices and dark closets. It became a game for me to get light into the most inaccessible places I could find. I kept the little mirror, and as I went about my growing up, I would take it out in idle moments and continue the challenge of the game. As I became [mature], I grew to understand that this was a metaphor for what I might do with my life. I came to understand that I am not the light or the source of light. The light [or truth] is there, and it will shine in many dark places only when I reflect it.”
He concluded: “I am a fragment of a mirror whose whole design and shape I do not know. Nevertheless, with what I have, I can reflect light into the dark places of the world and change some things in some people. Perhaps others may see and do likewise.”
What comes to mind as you read this?
Sounds like fun as he would reflect the sun’s light into dark places.
We are called to reflect the son’s light into dark places! Biblically we see God and good as light and dark and sin as bad.
In the beginning, there was darkness and so God created light! Genesis 1:3-4…And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.
God who is the light shares that light with us! John 8:12…When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
The knowledge of God produces light in our hearts! 2 Corinthians 4:6…For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
It is supposed to be contagious! We are to let our light shine for others to see Christ! Matthew 5:16…In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
What does all of this mean? 1 John 1:5-7(niv)…This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him, there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
Let’s see what the message translation has to say of this verse… This, in essence, is the message we heard from Christ and are passing on to you: God is light, pure light; there’s not a trace of darkness in him. If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we’re obviously lying through our teeth—we’re not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purges all our sin.
We all sin (darkness)…through faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior (light) we are forgiven and called to let our light shine for all to see. Luke 8:16…“No one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light.
Right about now…I imagine you are a little confused on what to do with all of this…How does it impact my life, and my purpose?
Take some time and ask…what are the “dark” areas of my life? Where and when am I the farthest from God and His plan for me? What daily choices border on darkness? Do I tend to justify why a little darkness is ok?
When you first go into a dark room, you are lost, can’t see where to go. You fumble around, uncomfortable, and afraid. And yet the longer you stay in the dark, the more at home you feel…your eyes adjust, and you navigate freely. It’s the same with the darkness of sin…the longer you spend around it the more comfortable you are with it.
Ask God to reveal His “light” to you. Be in His Word and prayer for guidance and direction.
Just like my opening story…who do you know that needs you to reflect the Son’s light upon them? Maybe they are living in a sinful season of life… in a dark place! Or maybe they do not yet know the True Light. How can you point them to the True Light (of Jesus) as you reflect His Light through your words and actions? I love the Christmas Eve candlelight service! We each get the light of Christ…and then we pass it on to others…and together we shine brightly as His Church. We then get up and leave the church building to go out and be the church…and have our light shine in our circle of influence.
Who in our Coronavirus world can you shine your light on? (pray for them, call someone who lives alone, offer to help a neighbor, drop off some cookies, help a jobless person financially or though the helping hand fund…smile, wave, or say “hi” to a stranger at the grocery store…thank a clerk, police, fire, mail carrier, medical worker, etc.)
Who in our racial unrest world can you shine your light on? Pray for God to soften hearts, unify all people, make needed changes. Use your circle of influence (social media) to bring peace, share stories, be positive. Stop fueling the fire by negative postings.
I end this devotion with a question I saw online by John Krahn. It’s a question for each of us all to ponder daily…
As you got out of bed this morning, did you feel like you belonged to a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God? And tomorrow morning, as the daily grind begins again, will you be thinking as you brush the old ivories, “What ways am I going to declare God’s wonderful deeds today?” Will any of us plot how we might upset the devil, the prince of terrorists? How many of us will let the light of Christ shine through us and be among the darkness dispellers? Will any of us seek to be the light of Christ in a darkening world? Reading the Bible, it becomes evident that Christianity is not a solo proposition. Christianity comes to us through the Christian community. Without a relation to the community or church, our individual Christianity is weakened and incomplete. The church is Christ’s body on earth today. The light of Christ shines in the world through each of us as we take seriously that we are a chosen people belonging to God.