He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Pastor Russ Belmont
Calvary Baptist Church (Concord)
Two thousand years ago lamps were a small bowl designed for a wick to rest in oil and extend up the side. For the wick to stay lit and shine brightly, one needed to continually refill the measure of oil within the lamp. The more times you refilled it, the longer the light kept glowing.
Christ called Himself the light. When we invite Christ into our lives, His purpose is to expel the darkness and reveal His truth. His light shines within us, and then it shines forth to the people around us (like the light of the lamp on the stand).
Christ would not have called us to be light in the world if He didn’t think we could do it. He has made available a full measure of His Spirit (like the measure of oil in the lamp) upon Whom we need to rely in order to reflect Christ in our lives. In order for Him to shine, we need to depend daily on the supply of His Spirit to work in us. The more we decrease trying to do it ourselves by allowing His Holy Spirit the freedom to operate, the more His Spirit will increase and shine in our lives and to the world around us.
Lord, it is a joy to know that I have access to the full measure of Your Holy Spirit in me. Forgive me for where I fall short, and renew Your Spirit in me today. Have Your way in me. Help me to rely not on my own measure of strength or understanding but on Your strength within me, so that people can see You and not me. Let it be so.
