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September 2000 Table of Contents
From My Heart To Yours
Where Is Your Light?
By Jackie Evans
 Thomas Kincade is billed as the "Painter of Light". I love to go in Thomas Kincade Galleries and see how the different light settings on his paintings affect the 'glow' of lights in the windows of the houses on the canvas. I know he is a Christian and includes the scripture reference of John 3:16 on each of his works. Not only does he let light shine in his paintings but, by the inclusion of this scripture reference, he has found a way to let his light shine for Jesus in his personal life as well.
'Light' in another sense began in many of our lives, those of us who were in church as 4 and 5 year olds, with the song, "This Little Light Of Mine"... I'm gonna let it shine…Hide it under a bushel NO!, I'm gonna let it shine." Then we went on to sing as many verses as our choir leader helped us to create (don't let Satan blow it out; shine all over Chick-a-saw (insert your city).
In my study of the Tabernacle (by Beth Moore) a recent lesson was on filling the lamps for the tabernacle. I learned 1) that the lampstands were made of pure gold 2) the lamps must be tended daily with clear oil of pressed olives and 3) they were to burn continually.
Now I know I'm not too smart and it takes a while for things to 'sink' in. That's why I have to ask God for wisdom and understanding (see James 1:5) before I sit down to a Bible lesson. But this is what I learned personally from the study on the lampstands. First of all, I see the gold lampstands as our bodies. Just as gold has to go through a purifying and refining process to become worthy of its value, so do we. We will always have imperfections and should constantly be in a process of refinement in our striving to be of great value for our Lord. Second, the lamps were to burn continually as a light for the Tabernacle and so are we to burn continually as a light for our Lord.
Before these lights could burn on a continuing basis, they had to be tended daily, making sure they were filled with clear oil of pressed olives. So it is for us. Before we can have a light that continually shines, we have to be filled daily with the pure word of God.
In Genesis 1, God commands light to appear on the face of the earth. In Matthew 5:14, He tells us WE are the light of the world. I was thinking as I read this of how I must disappoint God in the ways I do not let my light shine. Many times I hide it under a bushel; maybe not intentionally but unless I make a conscious effort to look for opportunities to let it shine then, to me, I have hidden it.
Beth Moore closes this lesson with a thought I'd like to leave with you. "Hear Him whisper those same words to you every morning when you open your eyes: 'Today, My precious child, let there be light.' And at the end of the day, when He tucks you tenderly into your bed, may He delight to say, 'There was light'." 1
1. A Woman's Heart--Gods Dwelling Place; Beth Moore; LifeWay Press
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