Thank You, Father, for Your presence at our worship services today. Prayer is a powerful tool that You encourage us to take full advantage of. May our prayers be based on Your will for our lives. Amen.
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Prior to going to bed the last few nights we have heard fireworks going off. For the most part, we can’t see them in that we have trees on three sides of the house. But as the night has settled and the revelers have as well, I have the privilege of seeing numerous lights lighting up the darkness. They are lightning bugs! Or some call them fireflies.
Throughout a good part of the summer, I have my own personal light show lying in bed looking out my window. They may not be big but they are flashy!
As I read up on them a little, I discovered that they are very energy efficient. No man-made light source can claim to be entirely energy efficient, but a firefly’s glowing tail uses 100% of the energy it produces to emit light. By comparison, the average incandescent lightbulb releases 90% of its energy as heat and 10% as light.
Wouldn’t that be a great goal for us? In Matthew 5:14-16 (AMP) Jesus proclaims,
“You are the light of [Christ to] the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone 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 shine before men in such a way that they may see your good deeds and moral excellence, and [recognize and honor and] glorify your Father who is in heaven.
We are the “light of [Christ] to the world”! But if we truly examine ourselves, how efficient are we? Oft times the light we give off is weak. Other times aspects of our personalities – anger, greed, selfishness, laziness – can detract from the light we show. That “heat” can negatively impact those seeking out God’s light. We overshadow what they need to find!
Lord Jesus, help us to spend more and more time with You so that we can become more and more efficient in putting forth Your light. As John the Baptist is quoted as saying in John 3:30 (NLT), He [that is Jesus] must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less. Amen!
(By the way, if you’d like to see a closeup of a lightning bug in flight click here – I never realized that they looked this amazing!)
July 7th, 2019, 3:05 pm
