Summer is in full swing and one of Jon’s favorite things about summer in the mid-west was fireflies. There’s just something special about flying bugs that glow. I remember him taking the girls out to catch them in jars so they could have their own special night-light – until they let them go… that is.
The scientific term for their ability to “glow” is Bioluminescence. God created several creatures with this ability. Bioluminescence is defined as “the production and emission of light by a living organism.” Bioluminescent creatures are found throughout marine habitats, from the ocean surface to the deep seafloor. But, bioluminescence is not just something from a science book, we find it woven through scripture.
In Matthew 5:14-16, we find Jesus teaching about Bioluminescence – which literally translated, means “Living Light”.
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
From both old and new testaments, there are scriptures referring to God, or God’s word, or Jesus and the Light. But here in Matthew, Jesus is telling the people (and us) that they / we are the light of the world.
One can’t help to take a hard look at the world we’re living in and find darkness in every direction. It is more important than ever that we not only look at Jesus’ address to the people, but we take a good look at ourselves and ask – “Am I a Living Light.”
Having been raised in the church, I have encountered all types of believers. Young ones, old ones, ones with mature lasting faith, ones with very shallow fragile faith, and everything in between.
I’m sure you will agree that if you know even five believers, they all have different levels of faith, and subsequently, show their faith (or shine their light) differently. In this post, I want to look at three types of faith and the light that they have the ability to produce.
1. The Candlelight Faith
Candlelight faith – is just like the light from a candle. First of all, it can only provide light when its lit. Even then, that light can flicker, grow brighter, or even get extinguished if a breeze catches it just right. While Candlelight faith will definitely light up a dark space, it has limited capacity. You can have 30-minute candles up to 6 hour candles. Eventually all candles will burn up and no longer be considered a viable light source.
How many times have we come home from a retreat or a conference or even a great day at church and felt “on fire”, only to loose that feeling within a few days or weeks? That my friends is Candlelight Faith. Its light will shine for a while, but eventually it will go out.
2. Flashlight Faith
Flashlight faith – is like the light you can get from a flashlight or other portable lighting device. The light is much better. More reliable. It’s not subject to the wind or other environmental changes. However, like with a candle, the flashlight will only operate and provide light as long as the batteries hold up. Granted, most batteries will last much longer than a candle, but they still have a defined shelf life. The other thing to note about Flashlight Faith, is that it has an on/off button.
Too often we operate with “Flashlight Faith”. We let circumstances, people and sometimes culture dictate when we shine our light. We use the on/off button for convenience because sometimes we just want to be an “undercover believer”. We don’t have time, we don’t want to be bothered or interrupted from what we are doing, or we simply don’t feel like being the light right now. Another drawback of Flashlight Faith is that sometimes when we need the light the most, we find that because of neglect or even oversight, we’ve let our batteries run out.
3. Firefly Faith
Then you have Firefly Faith or Bioluminescense “Living Light”.
This light is part of your spiritual DNA. It’s part of who you are. This light is alive. It burns brightly and the darkness cannot stand against it. It is not impacted by circumstances, but is a reliable, steady, source of light that anyone can see. This is the light – the Living Light – that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 5.
“You are the light of the world. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
The living light is not so others can see us, but so that they can see God through us. It is so that they can step out of their darkness and into the light for themselves.
Growing up, we often watched the Charlie Brown specials. I could never figure out why Pig Pen walked around in a cloud of dust and dirt. His friends were all neat and clean, but Pig Pen was always dirty. Didn’t he ever want to leave his cloud of dust and be clean?
People all around us are walking around in their own clouds of darkness. When they get near to us, does our light make the darkness flee or is our light swallowed up by their darkness?
I get it – the darkness is scary. It’s unpredictable. We might get hurt. We might offend someone. We might lose a friend. We might lose our job… the “we mights” are endless, but remember that’s the enemy talking; the darkness trying to extinguish our light.
When Jesus said – You are the light of the world, he didn’t say it wouldn’t cost us something. He merely said we are to let our lights shine. We are to be Living Lights.
In John chapter 1:4-5, the apostle writes: In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
This is a great promise. The darkness has not overcome it! We can be confident that if we step into the realm of being a Living Light, the darkness cannot win. It simply has to flee.
In 1 John 1:5-7, the apostle tells us:
"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.”
Much of creation is drawn to the light. Think about how many insects swarm around your porch light. There are animals that hibernate through the darkness of winter to only awake in the light of spring.
I find it amazing that God created some insects and sea creatures with the ability to produce their own light. Some of them use their Bioluminescent abilities to purposely attract mates or food for themselves. In the same way, God wants us to use the Living Light he gave us through Jesus, to attract those trapped in darkness to his glorious light.
As a child in church, I was taught a song entitled, “This Little Light of Mine.”
This simple song is a reminder to me that while the light of God is in us and part of who we are, we also have to be intentional about our display of the light. We have to commit to not hiding it. We have to commit to not turning it off. We have to commit to not allowing the enemy to snuff it out. We have to commit to letting it shine.
Yes, the darkness is there and some days it seems to be pressing in and consuming the light. But that is just a deception the enemy would like us to believe. The verse in John 1:5 reminds us The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
This post is an excerpt from the message with the same title which was shared during H2O Live in Sunday, July 10, 2022.
To listen to the full message, follow this link: https://vimeo.com/728644112
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