Let it Shine.

"This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. Don't let Satan blow it out, I'm gonna let it shine. Don't let Satan blow it out, I'm gonna let it shine. Don't let Satan blow it out, I'm gonna let it shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine."

On Friday, in my English class, we were in reading groups. My group happened to be completely off topic. One guy in the group, who I've known for years, was telling the group how badly he wanted to kill several people. He was not joking, he was as serious as a heart attack. He was talking about how much he hated "so-and-so" and he went on and on. Words of hatred came out of his mouth faster than I could blink. Having known this guy since elementary school, I know that he plans to be a youth minister one day. The words coming out of his mouth and his career choice simply did not match up. I'm not saying ministers are perfect, no one is perfect. But, if you could have heard the words he was saying, you wouldn't want your teenager under his leadership.

After several minutes of listening to him rant and rave, I simply could not stand it any longer. So, without holding anything back, I said, "You need some help. Actually, you need Jesus." He replied quickly, "I have Jesus." After he said that, my English teacher came over to our group to try to get us back on topic, so I didn't have the chance to say what I wanted to say. I so badly wanted to say, "If you have Jesus, then ACT like it."

Sometimes, Christians (myself included) get so caught up in life that we forget that living for Jesus is more than just claiming to follow Christ, it's living in a way that shows the world that you've been forgiven, redeemed, and changed from the inside out. We need to act like we "have Jesus." We need to show others so that they may see there is something different about us.

In Matthew 5:14, Jesus calls us to be the light of the world. We need to live in such a way that our light shines brightly. We need to shine our light, proving to others that Jesus is our everything. We need to love in a way that others may see Jesus in our words and actions. As my classmate spoke words of hatred, I saw absolutely no Jesus in him. We are supposed to speak words of hope, love, and encouragement. Not hate and discouragement. It made me incredibly sad...sad for him and the road in which he is traveling. I know that I'm far from perfect, but I so badly want to be used by God in a mighty way...and I strive to speak and act so that others see Jesus inside of me. And I pray that Jesus inside of me is more than obvious.

My prayer is that we will all shine so brightly that "a city on a hill cannot be hidden." And that we "let our light shine before others, that they may see good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."