| For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” |
| —2 Corinthians 6:16 |
What does the photograph of the church above tell you? Would you guess this congregation is active or dying? If in the summer months, with the windows wide open, you would hear robust singing? Would you then gain more of an understanding about what goes on there and how lively the people worship and engage with each other? Does this church look like a welcoming place?
Plenty of churches will illuminate their façade with carefully placed spotlights to reveal the beauty of the building in which they meet at some time during the week. But, how many actually beam the Light of God’s inner working out of the windows and onto anyone who might pass by? Does the very building speak of a Living Lord dwelling among the members of the congregation?
I imagine we could use this same image to represent individual believers. When others “pass by” us in their daily walk, do they see the Light of Christ in us?
Jesus reminds us in John 8:12 that He is the Light of the World, and in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:14) that just as He is the Light, we also are the light of the world.
In that same passage, (Matthew 5:16) Jesus said:
“…let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
In words that fit the photograph above:
“Keep your lights on in the window and throw them open to allow all to see and hear about Him through you.”
May our “light” reveal welcome and cheer to every person who crosses the pathway of our lives, through the gracious Lord that we serve!
