Lesson in Lights

I learn lessons in the strangest of places but I thought I would share what I learned last night.  I started decorating the house for Christmas a couple of days ago.  As I put garlands on mantles and trees in their places, I found that so many of the lights were no longer working.  After several years of them glowing, I was not really surprised.  I decided to run to the discount store in our town last night to get more lights to replace the ones not working.  I came home with five boxes of lights.  Each box had the same thing written on the outside and, in fact,they all appeared to be identical.  As I took the lights out of the boxes they too appeared to be the same exact thing.  I asked my daughter to check the first strand to make certain that they worked.  To my surprise, they did not work.  We checked all of the others and they all worked just fine.  It was at that moment that I heard a still small voice teaching me a lesson.

We call ourselves Christians.  We all look the same and act the same at church.  We are packaged the same yet do we all let our lights shine once we are "checked".  Can the world see our light?  Are we just "acting like Christians" or are we really Christians?  I could have put those lights on that tree but what good would they have been since they did not glow?  There is something wrong on the inside of the strand of lights so they are not glowing.  We are the same way.  We are no good unless we are glowing with the love  of Christ for all the world to see.  My Christmas lights are put in storage for 10 months of the year.  They are not regularly checked or used so I do not know if they are working or not.  Our Christianity cannot be treated the same way.  We cannot "store" or ignore our Christain life.  It is a daily walk and constant relationship with the Lord that keeps our lights working for His kingdom.  If there is something on the inside that is causing my light to not shine, I pray that the Lord reveals it to me so I can deal with it.  I want to be effective in His kingdom and not just look the part.

"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."