Solar Lantern

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You are the light of the world. Matt 5:14

Yesterday I bought a solar lantern meant to look like a candle, complete with amber light and a realistic flicker. The instructions said to put it in a sunny spot and the longer it is in the sunshine, the longer it will burn at night.

That’s not news to any of us, especially us South Africans who are learning to cope with load-shedding. However, there is a spiritual analogy here.

The longer we spend with the Light of the World, the more power we have to fulfill our destiny as lights of the world. This is accumulative so it doesn’t matter if it is one big chunk of time or constant little intervals throughout the day.

I have learned from experience that if you allow rechargeable batteries to stay flat for too long before recharging them, the battery gives in and they no longer function as they should. Just today I threw away a rechargeable torch that we used to keep in the motor-home, a rechargeable light bulb and a three-way-charge emergency lantern.

Let us not neglect our spiritual batteries lest we loose our ability to give light to a dark world.

Shadows

Things are not always what they seem from their shadows. This morning I started running my bath water and noticed a long legged spider trying to get out of the way of the rising water. As he slipped and slithered on the white enamel surface, it looked to me like two spiders were ascending and descending. Eventually he made it and scurried away and into the corner under my console.

In the photo above, the bird’s shadow looks much larger than the bird itself.

Sometimes our lives are marred by shadows of the past. We all experience bad things and we all make mistakes and hurt others. However, when we allow the shadow to grow into something larger than it really is, it can steal our happiness and peace.

Jesus said, “I am the Light of the World. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” We all know what happens to shadows when we shine a light on them. Let us allow Jesus to shine His light on the dark shadows in our soul.

This post is part of the JustJoJan challenge.