How’s Your Reflection?
June 26, 2011
The moon is a rock star. It’s mentioned in songs, books, poems, and stories. It’s used to enhance scary movies and romantic movies as well. It’s a beacon in the night to lost hikers. It’s a lonely gaze for the broken hearted and a magic gaze for lovers. The moon was once considered to be a god by several cultures. It’s been said you can see the man in the moon, a cow jumped over it, and it’s made of cheese. People moonlight, moonshine, and are moonstruck. We eat moon pies, take honeymoons, and sing “Take Me To The Moon”.
So why is so much attention given to the moon you ask? Because of the sun, that’s why. Huh? Yep, without the sun the moon is just a big grey clod in the sky, nothing more, nothing less. You see, the moon does not generate any light of its own. It just reflects the light of another source. In the right position it radiates a beautiful image that brings attention to itself and showers it with all the accolades mentioned above. Without the light of the sun, the moon to look at is, well, little more exciting than looking at an asteroid on the dark side of Pluto.
If we do not have the light we are blind—Anyone who claims to be “in the light” and hates his brother is, in fact, still in complete darkness. The man who loves his brother lives in the light and has no reason to stumble. But the man who hates his brother is shut off from the light and gropes his way in the dark without knowing where he is going. For darkness has made him blind (1 Jn 2:9-11). In God’s light, pride melts like wax, and the impulse of the flesh is to run for cover. But, if we resist the temptation to “darken the light”, then God will illuminate the weaknesses that we “stumble over”. This is part of the “truth” that will “set us free”.
When we reflect the love of the Son we radiate a beautiful image that brings attention to us, and, through that attention we let people know it’s not really us, it’s the Son they are seeing. Without the Son we are pretty much grey clods ourselves. We have no power on our own to make a difference in eternity.
In John Wheeler’s sermon today (listen at: http://tinyurl.com/3atd4x6) he spoke about the need we have to move away from being self-centered and surrendering instead to truth. Only in agreeing with God about his truths and becoming Christ-centered will we truly reflect the light of His Son in pursuing Godliness. THAT is the light scripture speaks of when it says “This is the judgment: that light has entered the world, and men have preferred darkness to light because their deeds were evil. Everybody who does wrong hates the light and keeps away from it, for fear his deeds may be exposed. But everybody who is living by the truth will come to the light to make it plain that all he has done has been done through God.” (John 3:19-21)
See that bird in the picture at the top of this article? You wouldn’t be able to see it if it weren’t for the sun…better yet, if the moon was not reflecting the sun. Kind of strange but you wouldn’t even see it with it sitting on a light pole because that light source is under it). Some people, at certain times, can see the truth of Jesus only because of you…because you are reflecting Jesus and because of that reflection they see truth perched up there on their mind’s light pole, perhaps during some of the darkest nights of their lives. Similar as the bird in the picture is seen because of the moon because of the sun, others may see real truth because of you because of Jesus. Think about it. Once you were “darkness”, but now as Christians you are “light”. Live then as children of the light. The light produces in men all that is good and right and true. Let your lives be living proofs of the things which please God. Steer clear of the fruitless activities of darkness; let your lives expose their futility. (You know the sort of things I mean; to detail their secret doings is too shameful to mention.) For light is capable of showing everything for what it really is. It is even possible for light to turn the thing it shines upon into light also (Eph 5:8-14a)>
Shine on brothers and sisters….risk helping others see the Son.
Jack Patterson ~ Denver, Colorado (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)