You Are The Light Of The World… A Great Responsibility Given To The Christian

You are world’s light… Thus begins the text of Matthew 5:14. Making fall on a cloud of listeners thirsty for words of life the enormous responsibility of illuminating a world in darkness.

They were men and women of different social classes, interests and vocations; at the foot of a mountain receiving teachings from a carpenter who was now famous for preaching a quite different doctrine… From those popularized by the religious of the time.

The Sermon on the Mount encompasses chapters five, six, and seven of the book of Matthew; and it is possibly the most complete and precise discourse that we find in the Holy Scriptures on the doctrine of Jesus. In it, a series of teachings that delimit very well what Christianity is; expresses a deep practical ethic; in such a way that when comparing these teachings with daily life; Anyone can see if he really is in the Christian faith or on the contrary he is deceiving himself…

It is not by chance that in this discourse we find the expression “You are world’s light”. Dictated by Jesus himself and due to its doctrinal and moral character, the Sermon on the Mount is practically the constitution of the kingdom of heaven; therefore it has a very high doctrinal validity and weight, and each word included in it was carefully thought out with a specific purpose through our Lord Jesus Christ.

In the Sermon on the Mount believers are called the light of the world… the same believers who are citizens of the kingdom of God become the lighting source. Which should be for all a reason for reflection; The sacred scriptures literally say:

“You are the light of the world; a city established on a mountain cannot be hidden” Matthew 5:14.

You are world’s light…

Light… (from Latin lux, lucis) is the part of electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. It is the essential element necessary for our eyes to see the world around us; and we can interact in it; so that in the absence of light it is really very difficult and even impossible for us to carry out the simplest tasks.

Jesus was perfectly aware of this reality… He uses on this occasion our obvious need for enlightenment so that as believers we could understand what was expected of us; and what is our responsibility in the face of a world that is increasingly immersed in darkness.

The passage continues…

“No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, they put it up high where it illuminates everyone in the house.

In the same way, let your good deeds shine in the sight of all, so that all may praise your heavenly Father.” Matthew 5:15-16

All those who believe in Jesus as the scripture says, all those who take the teachings of Christ for themselves, must be aware that they are light with a purpose greater than themselves… More important than their well-being, more transcendent and relevant than the difficulties they may face; that purpose is that God receives the glory for the notoriety of his good works.

The Necessity of Good Works.

The world needs to see in the Church (believers today) the example that Jesus gave of faith and conduct. The reason why the message of Jesus Christ transcended in history; why Jesus was so different from the “learned” teachers of the day (Pharisees and scribes); it was because he taught at a higher level than words. It was the steadfastness and purity of his example, the depth of his message, and the power of his teachings.

The Bible recounts in Acts 10:28 how Jesus went about doing good and healing all the oppressed of the Devil because God was with him. The bible shows in the gospels how Jesus healed a significant number of people from different illnesses; his preaching was never discordant with his acting in love.

And although the Gospel of John (in verse 9 of chapter 1) points out that Jesus is the true light; He himself, in the passage of Matthew 5:16, delegates to us the function of illuminating and “show the world good plays” that reflect the love of God.

We also see in the epistle of Santiago, how the apostle admonishes his listeners to not be hearers only of the teachings of Christianity but also to be doers… (James 1:22) And it is James himself who later clarifies all his listeners; “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:26). So if we believe that the expression “you are the light of the world”; it had a purely cosmetic or poetic purpose, to bring the self-esteem of Christians to higher levels, we are really very wrong.

God really expects a lot from us; he really wants to work in and through us, to bless many lives that don’t know him yet… God needs a church of believers who fully understand that are the light of the world; that is, they are the entity certified and commissioned by God to dispel the darkness that harass and destroy humanity.

Works That God Predestined…

Perhaps one of the aspects that frequently stops Christians from working for the blessing of others is not knowing what to do? nor how to do it? However, if we look for the answers in the correct place, which is in the sacred scriptures, we will notice that according to Ephesians 2:10 We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand for us to do.

There is always something you can do… something that shows God’s love for the world something that shows your love and respect for your neighbor, something that may not be so big and noticeable but that changes and positively affects someone else’s life ; God does not lie in his word, and he has given gifts, talents and abilities to men (Ephesians 4: 8) to help others in some way.

The Bible also says that it is God who puts “willing as doing” Philippians 2:13 says:

“because God is the one who produces in you both willing and doing, by his good will”.

So it’s not even about doing something good that comes directly from you… The good you want to do is a desire that God has placed in your heart, it’s the good will of God being manifested through one of his children ; It is Jesus wanting to illuminate through your life a little piece of the world that he needs from his presence, his love and his goodness, the question is:

Are you willing to be light?

…PUT IT IN A HIGH PLACE WHERE IT ILLUMINS EVERYONE IN THE HOUSE…

Someone once said; “God does not look for prepared people, he looks for willing people” to be trained and used by his spirit…

When we look at the great men and women of the Bible, we tend to mistakenly believe that they were highly prepared and capable people who had a very high level of spirituality; and that they had transcendentally supernatural gifts. when the reality is that in most cases it was not like that… If we look at chapter 11 of Hebrews, where the works of these great characters by faith stand out; all we will see are ordinary people who dared to believe.

People who dared to think that with God they could make a difference in the world. People who knew how to put themselves in God’s hands; along with their hopes and resources for God to do his will through them. Ordinary people who faced the bloodiest crises but nevertheless maintained the hope and faith that led them to act and be a light in the midst of darkness…to make lake in the midst of deeply adverse situations”.

Now it is written: “you are the light of the world…” God expects something from us; as light of the world, and it is to illuminate we are a light that should not be hidden; The key question regarding that reality is: What are we going to do? Will we be able to illuminate?

Do not stop reading also: What does it mean to put on the armor of God?

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