Day 81: You Put the Light In Me

Luke 11:33-36

The Lamp of the Body

    ³³ “No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. ³⁴ Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy,^[g] your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy,^[h] your body also is full of darkness. ³⁵ See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. ³⁶ Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be just as full of light as when a lamp shines its light on you.”


"This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine..." We sing it from the time we're preschoolers, but what does it mean? For the longest time, I would have said that it means we're supposed to show our Christianity to others, or not be afraid to speak out, or something-or-other like that. And that's true, I suppose, but in reading these passages I realized that is something much, much bigger. 


"Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be just as full of light as..." Whoa. We've gotta put the light in so the light will come out. And we've got to get rid of the darkness so that the light can come in. "See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness." The negativity? Out. The gossip? Out. The sarcasm and the smart remarks? Out. None of those things show the light within me. In fact, that's the light within me that's really darkness. 


I think about the few people I've known in my life who are truly "a light on a hill", and this is true of them. They have gotten rid of the bad so that all that's left is positive. And they shine. 


I want to shine. 


For extra fun, here's an awesome song by Brandon Heath... Light In Me.