"Let Your Light So Shine..."

Matt. 5:16

  1. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Commentary

Passages like this one often cause us to frantically reevaluate our lives: Are we "doing enough for God" to let our light shine and reach the world? What does it really mean to let our light shine? Jesus gives us a perfect, clear analogy in the previous verse: No one lights a candle, and then hides it where its light cannot be seen (Matt. 5:15). He does not say that we are to produce that light, nor that we must take it to every corner of the world; He simply tells us not to hide it.

The things that can hide our light are far more serious than natural timidity or fear. Anything that comes between us and God - any iniquity regarded in our hearts, any clinging to self - can become the bushel basket that makes our light useless.

When we are truly emptied of self, the light can shine forth with the brightness of God's Son - even though we, like Moses, may be completely unaware of what others see (Ex. 34:29).


All Scripture references from KJV. Commentary ©2011 Hitchcock Family Ministry. Unaltered text may be reproduced freely without financial gain. Original commentary and Scripture song available at http://www.freescripturesongs.org/let-your-light-so-shine.