Max Lucado tells of a bunch of candles that were in a storage closet. One night, there was an electrical storm, and the electricity in the house went out. So, the husband went to the candles to get them to provide light during the darkness, but the candles—which could talk—all had excuses for why they couldn’t leave the closet, or why they couldn’t give off light.
One said that it needed more preparation. He didn’t want to make mistakes when he finally was sent to light a room, and so it was studying to be the best candle it could be. He said he was in a great study on wind resistance, had just listened to a tape series on wick build-up and conservation and was getting ready to read a best-selling book on flame display called Waxing Eloquently.
The second candle claimed to be busy meditating. He said that he was meditating on the importance of light and that he couldn’t be disturbed because it was so… enlightening.
A third claimed that he wasn’t stable enough and had to get his life together before he tried to light any rooms. He said his main problem was that he had a short wick and people thought he was a hothead.
The fourth candle was a female, and said that while she would like to help, lighting the darkness wasn’t really her gift. She was a singer, and her responsibility was to encourage the other candles so they would go out and light the darkness. To reveal her gift, she immediately launched into a beautiful rendition of “This little light of mine.”
All the other candles began to sing as well, and nothing the owner could do would make them stop. When the husband asked his wife where she had picked up the candles, she said, “Oh, they’re church candles. Remember the church that closed down across town? I bought them there.” Candles that won’t shine. Tragic. I wonder if that is how God sometimes views us.
Christians are supposed to have our light on! Always allowing our light to shine—to be seen by those in darkness. To provide light for those in the storm. To be a lighthouse for those who need to see the way safely to shore.
But too often we cover our lights, or let them burn out, or simply refuse to be lit. More tragically still, rather than contribute to the light, rather than showing people the way to God, we sometimes join in the deeds of darkness, who is going to know if we are doing it in the darkness?
We tend to pick and choose when we want our light to shine and when we don’t. We want it to shine at church, but not at work. We want it to shine in the Bible study, but not at the neighborhood picnic. We want it to shine when we sing along to the radio in our car, but not when somebody pulls on the interstate in front of us.
But imagine for a moment, what would happen in other areas of our lives if we decided that sometimes we wanted the light to shine and other times not. Imagine what would happen on the highways if sometimes people drove at night with their lights on, and other times they didn’t. Imagine what would happen if the runway manager at an airport decided to turn the runway lights off for a few hours every night when planes were trying to land. Or, how hard it would be to get around your house, if some rooms were lit, but others were not.
If we lived this way, our lives would be full of terrible disasters. But that is how some of us live our Christian lives. That is how some of us treat the light of the truth that we are each responsible for. We think we can turn it on and off and not suffer the consequences, but we are wrong. Anytime a light is supposed to be shining but it is not, disaster results.
Matthew 5:16 ~ Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven.