A few years ago, I was memorizing a passage from Isaiah, and something about it just stood out to me.  The passage was Isaiah 60:1-3.

“Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth And deep darkness the peoples; But the Lord will rise upon you And His glory will appear upon you. Nations will come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising.” (Is. 60:1-3)

What stood out to me was that God’s glory would appear on us, and the world would be drawn to His light in us.  But notice how the passage starts with an action: “Arise, shine.” How can nations see the light of Christ in us if we do not rise up and shine the light He has placed in us?

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”  Matthew 5:14-16

We are the light of the world, because we have the Light, Jesus, in our hearts.  The world is trapped in darkness.  They need to see the light, but they cannot see it if we don’t let Christ shine in our lives.

Too often as Christians we try to fit in with the world.  A common excuse for “fitting in” with the world is that we can’t reach the world if we’re not in it, and so we should be doing what the world is doing so that we can reach non-believers.  The first part of that statement is true.  In John 17:15-16 Jesus prays, “I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”  This is a very important point: we are to be in the world, but we are not to be like the world.  We aren’t supposed to look as much like the world as possible, and then throw on a “Christian” nametag.  We are supposed to be transformed into Christ’s likeness and show the world who He is.

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”  Romans 12:2

2 Corinthians 6:14-18 is a very powerful passage asking how there can be harmony between sin and righteousness. Verses 16-18 say,  “Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. “Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord. “And do not touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you. “And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” Says the Lord Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6:16-18

We are the temple of God – that means He is living inside of us! And yet we must ask the question: how can there be harmony between sin and righteousness? There can’t. So why would we try to lower our standards, and let in small amounts of sin so we can be like the world, when we have our perfect Savior living inside our hearts?

Because we are human, we will make mistakes and sin. But, as Christians, we aren’t supposed to stay in our sins, and we aren’t supposed to keep our light hidden from the world. We must let Christ work in us to make us more like Him, and we must let Him shine through our lives.

The world isn’t going to be drawn to Christianity if we’re just calling ourselves Christians but living like the world. Non-believers won’t be able to see the need of a Savior if we aren’t letting Christ work in our lives. The world will be drawn to Christ when they can see that He is alive and at work in our lives.

So how do we let Christ’s light shine through us? Here are 2 important components of letting our light shine:

1: Spend time with Jesus. You cannot become more like Christ if you don’t spend time in His presence. Spend time every day in the Word and in prayer, allowing Christ to show you areas of your life that need growth, and then allow Him to make that growth happen. As you draw closer to Christ, it will affect every other aspect of your life, and your light will shine.

2: Choose Christ’s standard. One of the hardest things to do is say no. But as Christians we need to be living lives that honor God. That means we have to say no to anything that is sinful or displeasing to our Heavenly Father. It may be painful to say no, but in the long run you will draw closer to God and have less struggles with sin in your life if you say no the moment you are confronted with anything that doesn’t please God.

Living for Christ isn’t easy. But He promises to be with us and to shine through us. Remember, it is not us that need to shine. We need Jesus to shine through us.

Arise, shine! 🙂

With love,

Kelsey