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As I was getting ready this morning, I opened my bathroom window and looked out. It was nice and cool, but very dark. The only light came from our front porch (it's dark at 4am!). I looked to the very edge of our front yard and could barely see the road. I thought, "It sure is dark out there." God was speaking to my heart at the same time I thought those words. The world is a very dark place, and we, as those who love and follow God, light up that dark place. But why only so little? That made me smile... I know in our home we are always trying to conserve... trying to save money. Because it's costs us something to have the lights on. It also shows me the places in my house that are in need of cleaning or repair, and sometimes I'm just so tired from the busyness of life that I don't want to deal with it. And I thought, do I do that with the Light God has placed in me? Do I "conserve"... not letting it shine as brightly as it could (as it was designed to)? Why? Why have I been conserving that Light? Because it costs me something. It costs me something to have the lights on, all the time, in the darkness. It also exposes things inside me that are in need or cleaning or repair. But what is all this Light for? For us, yes.... but it's for SO much more! It's like that Bible verse... “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let you light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Matt. 5:14-16) Driving to work this morning (in the dark), I noticed all the lights from the homes and cars. I thought, "Man! If all the people who live on this road turned on their lights and all the cars (so, okay, there aren't many cars out at 4:45am) turned their bright lights on... Wow! This place would really be lit up! People would wonder what's going on!" |
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“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14) We’re all going somewhere… we’re all walking on a path to something. I heard someone once say that it’s like a big funnel… If you go through the wide end, it’s huge with seemingly so much to do, see and experience. But the further you walk, the tighter and more confining it gets, until there’s no room to move and it leads to death. But if you find the small end and enter it, it feels so confining at first (with reason and purpose – to refine you). The further you walk, the larger the opening and view and possibilities become… until it expands into unending openness! It makes me think of some of the hikes I’ve been on… the lower part of the trails being wide and paved and full of people, with the paths to the upper trail not easily seen, and most people just passing them by, choosing to stay on the easier path lower down. Paths to the upper places are always less travelled and much more difficult. You are often confined to a narrow trail between the tall, view-blocking and dense trees. Yet there is amazing beauty there, if you look! And as you hike further along, it begins to become lighter and you can see open sky up ahead. Then you break out of the tree line and into the open! That’s when your perspective changes. Depending on where you happen to be hiking, you can look down on freeways, on cities, or on forests. From the top of a mountain, nothing stops your view… for as far as the eye can see, in every direction! It’s a funny feeling… having followed a narrow and difficult path to reach the top of a mountain. Not superior, but an amazed awe. Realizing how small I really am and how unfathomably big God is! It always seems to put things back into proper perspective for me! To get there is hard work, and just like verse 14 says, “… only a few find it.” I only have a handful of friends and family that could or would be willing to go on that kind of hike. If you are willing to follow the narrow, more difficult path… allowing God to refine you as He is stretching and growing your muscles, your view of God will become endless… in every direction of your life… for as far as the eye can see!
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(c) 2009 the fountainChurch |
Conserving
the Light?? 
