Friday, May 20, 2011

What is Seen in the Light

When I was in college I worked during a summer as a Junior High summer counselor for a Day Camp. I had about 8-12 Junior Highers 5 days a week, 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., for the whole summer! If you know anything about Junior Highers you know they have trouble entertaining themselves. So in a desperate moment one day I decided to create a game. We were in a small classroom with several long tables. The kids hid under the tables, then I turned off the lights. I then threw a penny, you could hear it bounce around, and then drop to the ground. The point of the game was to find the penny in the dark! (I know, I know, I was desperate to keep them occupied). Anyway, sometimes we would find the coin, sometimes we couldn’t find it until we turned the lights on. We were able to see the penny in the light.

Many people live their lives thinking that what they do in the dark cannot be seen; that their bad deeds can only be seen in the light. That is why crime increases when it gets dark. We think the darkness hides what we do.

But the truth is, God can see what we do in the darkness and in the light. In Psalm 139:7, 11-12, we read: “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?… If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.”

You need to live your life as if you are always living in the light. Character is about how you behave even when others aren’t looking. At your job, you work hard whether your boss is there or not. If you work with money, you make sure you are always responsible with it. When you are talking about someone else, and they are not there, you make sure you don’t slander them. And on and on it goes. Live as though everything you do is seen in the light!

How are you doing with this? Where might you need to adjust your living? Your thinking? Blessings.