Encourage your children to be the brightest light in the room.
Ray and I are still enjoying eating breakfast outside. Our house is in a river bottom. Beyond the bottom, hills surround us in all directions. Though God has already “turned the lights on” when we go out, the sun has not yet risen above the eastern hills.
On many mornings, we know the hills are there, but the fog is so thick that we can’t see them yet. One day last week, we didn’t have to look to the east to know that the sun had risen over the hills behind us. We saw its light shining on the tops of the trees which were beneath the fog. I hope you can see what I mean in this picture I took that morning.
Look closely beyond the pasture and see that the tops of the trees are bright, but the trees are darker and more muted farther down. It’s beautiful to watch the brightness move down the trees as the sun rises higher and higher.
The next morning, we were in the yard late enough to see the sun shine on the lantana flowers at our feet.
The light is pleasant,
and it is good for the eyes to see the sun.
Ecclesiastes 11:7
We all know the good feeling when we peek outside and see a sunny day. Light is pleasant, and it is good for our eyes to see the sun (as long as we don’t look at it directly!). Just as the day gets brighter and brighter as the sun gets higher and higher, a righteous life shines brighter and brighter, too.
But the path of the righteous
is like the light of dawn,
That shines brighter and brighter
until the full day.
Proverbs 4:18
God had much to say about light, including the first recorded words that He spoke:
Then God said, “Let there be light”;
and there was light.
Genesis 1:3
Jesus called Himself light.
I have come as Light into the world,
so that everyone who believes in Me
will not remain in darkness.
John 12:46
Jesus contrasted light and darkness.
The Light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness did not comprehend it.
John 1:5
Jesus told His followers that we are light, too. Imagine if all Christian parents encouraged their children to be the brightest light in the room. What a wonderful world that would be.
“You are the light of 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 the 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 works,
and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
Matthew 5:14