PHILIPPIANS 2:15

“so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world,”

Have you ever had to prepare for encroaching storms at night? What is one of the first things you get together? Light! You may gather flashlights or lanterns. You may have some candles for such occasions. You don’t want to be caught in the dark in the middle of a storm. You need light to show you the way if you need to escape. You need light to keep your children from being scared.

We are “lights in the world” according to today’s verse. The first part of the verse tells you why. We are “in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.” That’s dark. That can be scary – unless you have the light. We have The Light – Jesus Christ. So, we have the responsibility to shine the light of Christ wherever we go and whatever situation we face.

APPLICATION

If you haven’t figured out that this verse applies to you as a follower of Christ, just stop reading now. Just kidding. But you should see how important this is. Let me show you something in the verse that I think needs explaining a bit. In this translation (NASB), it reads, “you appear.” The original Greek is the word phaino which includes the idea of shining, to shed light.

The best thing to know about the darkness is that it cannot put out light. Light pierces the darkness and sends it running. In Matthew 24:27 this word phaino is used to describe lightning as it flashes across the sky. Do you think you and I could appear that way? Could we flash the light of Jesus? Could we brighten our world with the light which lives inside us?

Maybe you are in a dark place right now. Maybe life has thrown you some curve balls. You may feel you are deep in a pit. There is no pit so deep or dark where the light of Christ can’t shine. As a follower of Christ, you have that light within you. Stop relying on your own light, your own duracells. Rely on His inexhaustible light. Rely on the Giver of Light!

O Lord, I need Your light to brighten the world around me. Use me as Your lantern to show others the way.