INVEST with Illumination!

Mike Hosey, An Elder

One of the most fulfilling things a person can do in life is to invest in others. Everyone does it differently.  Some people invest in others with daily face time. Others do it with prayer. Still, others do it by being a helping hand when one is needed.  But there are a few other ways that we can all invest in people, regardless of our individual talents or leanings. 

One particular way is to invest with illumination. Consider the example of Jesus. In John 1:1-5 Jesus is called “the Word.”  That passage says that Jesus, The Word, was a light in the darkness, and the darkness could not overcome him.  This is not really an amazing fact. Darkness has never been able to overcome light, and never will.  The darkest dark must flee from even the dimmest light, and the brilliance of Jesus has not dimmed one lumen since he first stepped into our world.

Interestingly, Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:8 that we Christians once walked in darkness, but that we are now light.  He adds that we ought to walk as children of light.  That is, that we ought to walk like children of The Light -- Jesus. Let that sink in for a second . . . as Christians, we are taking on the role of Jesus in this world!

Paul was only echoing Jesus himself when he penned those words to his Ephesian brothers and sisters.  Jesus told us in Matthew 5:13-16 that we are the light of the world, that we can’t be hidden, and that we should let that light shine so that people in a dark world can see our good works, and as a result of seeing those good works, they will give glory to God! We may be considerably dimmer than Jesus, but even Jesus recognized that our dim lights would dispel the darkness of our fallen world, and thereby give glory to God. 

As we get the word of God into us, we will begin to live that word, and become a kind of embodiment of that word, just as Jesus was (and is) the truest embodiment of God’s word. In fact, you will become an inferior form of the word in this world, and be a light in this world.  Here is a final profound thought for you to consider regarding that reality:  In becoming those things, you may very well be the only scripture that some people will ever read.  You may very well be the only light that some people may ever see.  And you may be the last “Jesus” standing between a dying person, and a hell on earth or a hell in eternity.