Reflection:  Conspicuous Light

I’ve lived through a few wars, the most memorable of which was when I was twelve. Living in an army town (coincidently the town where Osama bin Laden would later be found and killed), it was essential that we and the whole district be ‘hid’. Our evenings were intimately spent tucked up as a family of seven in a single blacked out room. Not a chink of light to be seen by enemy planes or attentive police.

Though we might hear stories of underground churches that share similar physical circumstances, the image here is quite the opposite. Jesus is the light in a blackout-world. We, sharing his family likeness, are defined by that light. Not camouflaged but like ‘a city on a hill that can’t be hid’*. In an antagonistic world we reflect him in luminous, wholesome character. Lively with spiritual resources, we are conspicuous, counter-cultural and attentive to the wiles of darkness. ‘So’, said Jesus, ‘blaze away, that all may see and glorify your father in heaven.’ *

* Matthew 5:14, 16

Prayer:  Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name.’**

[Repeat that a few times putting emphasis on different words/phrases.]

Impassion me in your lively worship with each new sunrise. Keep conspicuous your lively people world-wide, Holy Spirit, that we may not only expose darkness, but radiate goodness in each God-designed challenge and possibility.

**Psalm 103:1