Be the Light our God has given us to be.
The dark day we are living in. I want to go all the way back to a hot day in Texas in the year,1968, August. Some might say, what significance does this have?
Well, a lot. On that day, while serving out my last four months in my military career, while in my room in the military complex at Ft. Hood Texas, as usual, turning through the stations on my radio. I came across a preacher. He was preaching from John chapter 3. His message was this: Ye must be born again. You will say, well, yes, so?
But what you don’t understand is this: Here is someone, born and raised directly under the buckle of the Bible Belt, in western North Carolina, yet, having no idea of what he was talking about. Not brought up in church in any sense of the word. Clueless to what he was preaching, nevertheless, troubled to the extent, I got down and dug deep into my foot locker, looking for the little New Testament, given to me by the Gideon’s, while waiting to board the bus heading to Charlotte to be examined for the military.
Having found the little New Testament, as one would normally do, I opened to Matthew and began to read, beginning with chapter one and all the names concerning the forty two generations of Christ. Being so ignorant of the scriptures and in total spiritual darkness, I came to the conclusion, the whole Bible was like this. Just a bunch of names I cannot even pronounce, let alone understand.
So, putting the little New Testament back into my foot locker and moving on to another station on the radio. Nevertheless, my soul was troubled, The Spirit of God had spoken to my heart and troubled me.
That was in the fall of 1968. If someone, born and raised, not in some of the all but God forsaken other places in our country, could be in such spiritual darkness as I, how much the more so of they?
As the title of this short lessen of today, how so more important for the God given light in our hearts and souls, be a light in this dark day we live in?
And some will say, well I am so uneducated in the scriptures. Well, join the crowd, so am I. You might say, well, I just simply do not know to relate to the lost, well, join the crowd, neither do I.
Just one simple question to you and I?
Do we know Him? Do we know Jesus? Is the precious light of our Lord Jesus dwelling in our hearts?
If so, why hide that light from those dwelling in the darkness of this world?
It’s not what we know that our Lord will use, it is WHO we know our Lord will use. It’s not how much we know but how well we know HIM, who is altogether lovely.
The week preceding the Saturday morning in June, 1973, The Lord saved me on the back steps of the old house I was living in, while passing through our living room, my mom sitting there reading the scriptures and stopping me and said: I want to read you something. I, so hard and resisting the precious Holy Spirit of God, said the words that surely must broke her heart: I do not want to hear it. I’m not ever going to get saved and if I ever do, I will never tell anyone!
Just three days later, less than twenty feet from that very same place, I did ask The Lord Jesus to save me and within less than five minutes I turned to my dad who was also there and begged him to give his heart to Jesus!
This is the same person that just three days earlier and with the same mouth, spoke the words and breaking the heart of the one who brought me into this world!
Children, it’s not what we know, it is WHO we know. The day my Precious Lord saved me, I knew absolutely nothing concerning the scriptures, but I instantly knew the Author of the scriptures! From death row in this dark, dark world, now brought into the Light of the Glorious Gospel in Christ Jesus.
Be the light our God has given us
Children, let us not be afraid nor ashamed to live the light nor let us be afraid nor ashamed to testify, to His saving Grace.
“Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” John 4:35