Shine

Shine

Megann Graf
Thursday, June 9, 2016

Philippians 2:14-17  “Do everything without complaining or arguing so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life- in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that
I did not run or labor for nothing.”

As I was looking for an image to use for the blog today, I searched under just the exact quote you see above, because that’s the part of the scripture I remember the most.  But, I found it interesting, and challenging, as I raise an almost 11 year old daughter, to think of how many times I often leave out the beginning and end of the verse when I encourage her.   I often tell her “shine your light” instead of “good luck,” and lots of people tell her to “shine her light,” but rarely does she hear the part about holding out the word of life.  To be honest, even as a grown up, I don’t hear or think that very often either.  We are bombarded with advertisements about how “we’re worth it” or mantras that tell us “shine like the universe is yours,” and they start to distort the truth and water down our purpose.

Imagine a lake on a warm summer night and think about stars shining over that lake.  It’s a beautiful picture.  It looks pretty.  But, what if what we’re not seeing someone in that lake who needs help.  They need a hand to get out of that lake.  They’re drowning.  Sometimes, we can easily get caught up in the “shining” part and miss the most important words- that we shine “AS WE HOLD OUT THE WORD OF LIFE.”  It’s happening simultaneously.  There’s really no shining without holding out the word of life, the gospel, with it, and we are surrounded by people who need that truth.  We are surrounded by people who are hurting, overwhelmed, and burdened.  We are surrounded by people who are selfish, prideful and arrogant.  And sometimes, we are those people.  We need to hold on to the gospel ourselves, know it, believe it, work through it, but as we are in the midst of that we also need to share the gospel.  I’m not sure we will ever get to the point where we feel like we “get it” completely.  So, we can’t wait until we do to share it with others. 

Go shine your light today, but shine it with truth.  Shine it so that others clearly see Him in you.  If you are thinking, like I am, I don’t think I do that very well, it’s ok.  Verse 13 says, “for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”  We don’t need to cover up sadness with sparkle or gloom with glitter.  We need to light up the truth.  And, when it shines, it will make a difference.

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