Day 155: How Long Is Your Shadow?
Read: Matthew 5:14 - 16, 1 John 1:1 - 10
How long is your shadow in the dark? I know that this is kind of an odd
and obvious question - but none the less - how long is your shadow in
the dark? The most obvious answers would be "I cannot have one" "I
do not know, I have never looked" or "wait a minute, let me step into
the light so I can figure it out for you." Yes, silly is as silly does I
guess. What is the point I am trying to convey? Here it is ... if there
is just one thing we all have in common with each other, is that we all
know that there can never be a shadow in the dark. But why ask such
an obvious silly question as this? Simply just because we're all
uniquely created individuals does not mean that we still do not share a common shadow.
As followers of a common belief in Christ we also have a lot in common. But for some reason or another our common conversations don’t lead us to talk about our common Christian experiences. The common shadow that I am talking about is our
influence on other people. When we walk into the darkness of the world
outside, we cannot see nor control our shadow anymore than we can stop
having a shadow while we are in the sun of a bright sunny day. In
the same way we have precious little control over our influence of those
we come in contact with on a daily basis - in our workplaces, at
lunch with friends, a child's birthday party, a school function, little league ball games, at a wedding.
In the book of Acts chapter 5:15, we read that when Simon Peter walked
though the streets of Jerusalem, people tried to get in touch with his
shadow because they had a common belief that it had miraculous
powers of healing. We “ALL” exert a shadow of influence everywhere we
go, either a good one or a bad one. Our influence, for the most part, is
unconscious. Commonly, we are not very conscious of our shadow while we are walking down the street. We hardly even think about or consider
the common influence that our shadows might have on others, but guess
what? It is there all the time. At least it used to be. At least it should be because this
common shadow of ours is cast of God's light.
We think we can
influence people by our performance or our intention, but in reality, we
exert the most influence when our guard is down. We don’t even think
about it and for the most part don’t even care about it. Why, because
the world teaches us to be ourselves, to do our own thing, it won’t
affect anyone else, but it does, and we so need to be more aware of how
much our influence does affect those that dare to get close to us. While
children are growing up, while young adults are maturing, while we encounter people having difficulty walking within the darkness their lives have become
we should have a shadow to shadow talk for God's light desires to influence the darkness of their life.
Let Us Pray: "O Lord, grant us that love which can never die, which
will enkindle our lamps but not extinguish them, so that they may shine
in us and bring light to others. Most dear Savior, enkindle our lamps
that they may shine forever in your temple. May we receive unquenchable
light from you so that our darkness will be illuminated and the darkness
of the world will be made less. Amen." Saint Columba of Ireland
http://www.youtube.com/
Read: Matthew 5:14 - 16, 1 John 1:1 - 10
How long is your shadow in the dark? I know that this is kind of an odd and obvious question - but none the less - how long is your shadow in the dark? The most obvious answers would be "I cannot have one" "I do not know, I have never looked" or "wait a minute, let me step into the light so I can figure it out for you." Yes, silly is as silly does I guess. What is the point I am trying to convey? Here it is ... if there is just one thing we all have in common with each other, is that we all know that there can never be a shadow in the dark. But why ask such an obvious silly question as this? Simply just because we're all uniquely created individuals does not mean that we still do not share a common shadow.
As followers of a common belief in Christ we also have a lot in common. But for some reason or another our common conversations don’t lead us to talk about our common Christian experiences. The common shadow that I am talking about is our influence on other people. When we walk into the darkness of the world outside, we cannot see nor control our shadow anymore than we can stop having a shadow while we are in the sun of a bright sunny day. In the same way we have precious little control over our influence of those we come in contact with on a daily basis - in our workplaces, at
lunch with friends, a child's birthday party, a school function, little league ball games, at a wedding.
In the book of Acts chapter 5:15, we read that when Simon Peter walked though the streets of Jerusalem, people tried to get in touch with his shadow because they had a common belief that it had miraculous powers of healing. We “ALL” exert a shadow of influence everywhere we go, either a good one or a bad one. Our influence, for the most part, is unconscious. Commonly, we are not very conscious of our shadow while we are walking down the street. We hardly even think about or consider the common influence that our shadows might have on others, but guess what? It is there all the time. At least it used to be. At least it should be because this common shadow of ours is cast of God's light.
We think we can influence people by our performance or our intention, but in reality, we exert the most influence when our guard is down. We don’t even think about it and for the most part don’t even care about it. Why, because the world teaches us to be ourselves, to do our own thing, it won’t affect anyone else, but it does, and we so need to be more aware of how much our influence does affect those that dare to get close to us. While children are growing up, while young adults are maturing, while we encounter people having difficulty walking within the darkness their lives have become
we should have a shadow to shadow talk for God's light desires to influence the darkness of their life.
Let Us Pray: "O Lord, grant us that love which can never die, which will enkindle our lamps but not extinguish them, so that they may shine in us and bring light to others. Most dear Savior, enkindle our lamps that they may shine forever in your temple. May we receive unquenchable light from you so that our darkness will be illuminated and the darkness of the world will be made less. Amen." Saint Columba of Ireland
http://www.youtube.com/
Go Light Your World - Be a Beacon - Chris Rice HD
www.youtube.com
Be a beacon of Christ's Light. Take your flame to the world and let it shine. Matt 5:16 - In the same
No comments:
Post a Comment