Be the moon

I've heard this catchy quote before and really like it; "Be the moon; reflect the Son." The moon, without the sun, is just a dark object in space. But the sun shines on it and the moon reflects that light to us on earth. I think this a great example of what we, as Christians, are. We are like the moon. Without the Son, Jesus Christ, we would be dark. We would have really no meaning. We would be lost without the light that Christ gives us. I mean, besides affecting the tide, the moon doesn't do anything expect to reflect the source that gives it light. The Son has brought us light. He is the Light. Now we have one purpose; to reflect the Light. We are to take the Light that God has given us and share it with others in darkness.

Now picture this with me: If the moon just took the light that sun gave it and never reflected it to earth, what would be it's purpose? It would be meaningless. It's job according to Genesis 1:14 is to "be a light for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth" and "to rule over the night." That's the purpose that God created it for. So, if it wasn't doing that, it would be living a purposeless life.

Now, compare that to us: If we, as Christians, just took the Light that the Son has given us and never reflected it to the darkened world around us, what would be our purpose? We wouldn't have any meaning. God didn't just give us Light so that we can hide that Light and keep it to ourselves. No; we are "the light of world"! A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your goods works and GLORIFY YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN!!!!" We are not called out to isolate ourselves from the world, but we are called to light this world. You see, this world is a dark place. It is filled with sin and death. People are blinded and lost in the darkness of their sin. They need light.

It's like the night that the moon shines in. It's dark. Without the light that moon gives, it would be very hard to see (of course, with all the modern technology, things have changed...but think back a few hundred years ago when the moon (and the stars) was the only source of light). Have you ever woke up in the middle of the night to get a drink or something? I have. I got up in the darkness and was trying to make my way to the bathroom and switch on a light. Well, on my way out of my bedroom, I knocked into something with my foot. You get the picture -ouch!!!! Once we were at some friend's house playing hiding-go-seek in the dark in their back yard. My sister had been caught and was at base. Now, the way we play, we have two teams and one team hides and the other counts. Once you're caught, your teammates can come to base and give you a jailbreak. Well, there was a jailbreak and my sister started running away from base to go into hiding again. Remember, it was pitch dark and she couldn't see where she was going. She ran right into a low tree branch. The branch missed her eye by a forth of an inch. She ended up going to the emergency room....and after awhile everything was fine...but back to my illustration...When it's dark, people are lost and cannot see. They need light.

The people of this world are living in darkness. They are in extreme danger. Living in sin does not lead to any good. It only is bad. It leads to an eternity of torment and judgement in the Lake of Fire. And yet, "men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed." People are afraid of coming to the Light because their evil deeds will be exposed. It's like in the morning, when you wake up. You walk into the bathroom and flip on the light. What you see in the mirror doesn't look too pretty, does it? If you never turn on the light, you would never know your condition (and how pitifully bad it is). But when you turn on the light, you are able to see your flaws. You don't like what you see, but you know now what you need to do to fix them. It would be illogical to try to hide from the light and act like everything is okay. And yet that's what so many people are doing! They think that they can hide from their sins and act like everything's okay. But the truth is that they cannot escape the Light. One day everyone will face the Light and have to answer for all the things that they did in this life. Their deeds will exposed and judgement will afflicted on them for not coming to the Light while they had the chance.

We, as Christians, need to be bright lights in the dark world in which we live. Some people will hate us for it ("for everyone practicing hates the light..."), but don't let that stop you from shining! Realize that people are lost and blind. Realize that it's only the Light that will ever open their eyes. We need to be reflecting that Light. We can do that by living out the Word of God in our lives. Here's an example; "Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world." So, in all areas of life; Be the moon; reflect the Son. Don't let "clouds" get in your way. Don't just be a "sliver" or a "half" moon. Be a full moon, radiantly shining and glowing in a dark and dying world, pointing others to the Son.