What is the purpose of letting our light #Shine?

"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 your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:14-16

What is the purpose of letting our light shine'? To bring the Father honor and praise. Sounds simple enough, right? 

Growing up, I heard this passage repeated so frequently that I could quote it in my sleep (which is actually a good thing). However, when the reality of ''the challenge of living life' started to take it's toll, the significance of this passage really began to seep in. 

Whenever we are in a situation and don't know what to do, it never hurts to look toward Jesus! As a matter of fact, it is the best thing to do. That's right dear friends--our humble Savior and the One and Only sacrificial Lamb. He lived out these verses (Matthew 5:14-16) so purely that His life epitomizes them. There has never been, nor will there ever be One again Who, though He endured unimaginable hardship and ultimately died unjustly in an unthinkable manner, continually radiated God's glory drawing man to worship and praise the Father.

At times it is so easy to praise our Creator and 'shine' for Him--when He has given us a break from life's many curve balls, or even when the Lord has answered that prayer we've brought before Him countless times with a "yes." Rejoice! There is nothing wrong with that--we should relish the joy He has given us and soak up those sweet moments of happiness while giving Him credit for what He has done! There are numerous Psalms about "praise" and Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us that "there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven…" 

Nevertheless, there are seasons we walk through when, quite honestly, all is not well and it's hard enough to take it second by second, forget day by day. The beauty of this is that it is in moments (and seasons) like these, we have the opportunity to let our full dependency rest on Him. When we do this, the pressure is off of us (*phew*--sigh of relief), because when we are finally open to His results, He shines through us (and when His light is present, boy does it ever radiate)! It doesn't matter if we feel it or not--our precious heavenly Father is there.

Jesus was the expert for putting this into practice during His short time on earth. He was entirely dependent on His Father, in Whom He had no question regarding His faithfulness. …And look, Jesus was the brightest shining Light of all!

Shining our light is not about feeling or emotion, good days or rotten days, rather our hope being in the One who saved us from the pit. Because of this hope we have been given, we can "…hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful." (Hebrews 10:23) That alone is reason enough to continue onward everyday as we let Him radiate through us! Shine on! 


Who do you know that lets her light shine brightly for others?


How does she do this?

 A native of Metro-Atlanta, Danielle Hendrix is a graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design and is a graphic designer for Ecce Design Studio.

www.eccedesignstudio.com

She is also the graphics designer for Church 4 Chicks and has designed and developed all of our newest designs!