My car is ten years old and has 126,000 miles on the engine. It runs great, has had no major problems. The body is starting rust (Northern New York winters take a major toll on a car’s body); the clear-coat is cracking and peeling, but under the hood, it still runs great.
Recently, we were driving home after dark and noticed that the headlights weren’t shining as brightly as they should. “Must have a bulb out,” my husband said. He turned on the high-beams and saw a deer on the shoulder of the road. If he hadn’t turned on the high-beams, we probably would have hit the deer (and totaled my car and maybe even ourselves!).
The next day, we bought a new bulb. My husband turned on the lights to see which side was out and discovered that the bulbs weren’t blown, but the lenses were so cloudy that you could hardly see the light shining through. Back to the parts store he went and came home with a bottle of cleaner that made the lenses look like new. The next time we drove at night, we marveled at the difference that little cleaning made. We could see everything in our path, without the high beams!
A Christian’s life is much like that. We have a new nature, Christ has changed us from the inside and His Spirit resides in us, filling us with His light. When we start out, that light shines so brightly that people see it. We are enthusiastic and on-fire for the Kingdom of God. We want to know all we can, reading the Word, attending church, fellowshipping with fellow believers.
But, as time goes on, we lose some of the enthusiasm. We don’t spend as much time with the Lord; we don’t have that same deep longing for the Lord; we aren’t as eager to be in church and in fellowship with other Christians. We think that what we have already learned is enough. Or we allow ourselves to live in ungodliness, trying to be one thing on Sunday and live like everyone else the rest of the week. Our light starts to grow dim or never shines out at all.
One of the things I noticed about the cloudy headlights on my car was that not only was it hard to see what was on the road, but it was also hard to see the lights of the car. In the dark, it must’ve been difficult for the other drivers to see us coming.
“You are the light of the world…Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14a, 5:16.
The Bible says that we, the followers of Christ, are the light of the world and we are to let that light shine for all to see. It’s hard, however, to shine a light through dirty lenses. It’s also hard to see the dangers on the path if there isn’t the light to reveal them to us. We have to keep our spiritual lights in good working order. The only way to do that is to keep our focus on the Lord. Daily reading our Bible, time in prayer, sound Biblical teaching from our pastor will help us to see the dangers on our path and show us in what direction we are going and where we should be going. It will also help us to keep the light shining for all to see.
Since that dark drive home, the lenses of my car’s headlights get cleaned regularly. We don’t want another near-miss – or worse – on the road. Likewise, I want to avoid any near-misses or worse in my spiritual life. Keeping my spiritual lenses clean through the Word of God is the only way to keep the light of Christ strong and bright in my life.
