This Little Light of Mine
Do you remember the song, "This Little Light of Mine?"
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine
Let it shine, Let it shine, Let it shine!
It's a simple song that is packed with meaning.
Jesus talked about us shining like lights in Matthew 5:13-16. Here's what He said:
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
Before Jesus talks about light, He starts with salt. I love salt. I’m the guy who, if you watch carefully, you’ll see me individually salt chips at a Mexican restaurant. Sometimes they just need some one-on-one attention!
But look at what Jesus says about salt in verse 13: “You are the salt of the earth.” Notice that Jesus doesn’t say “you should be salt” or even “you will be like salt,” but instead he says that “you are.”
Salt is a saver. It’s something that prevents things from spoiling. When you want meat to keep and survive, you salt it. If meat is about to spoil, salt can save it. Salt is something that adds flavor and life to something that’s already dead.
While salt can save, the irony is that salt itself can’t be saved. If it has lost it’s saltiness, it’s done. Jesus says it might as well be thrown out and trampled. It is finished.
The image that Jesus is painting here is with His Gospel. If we’re going to trust Jesus for salvation, we become carriers of His Gospel. We are not saviors, but we become savers, spreading the truth of what Jesus has done. Jesus places that truth in our lives.
Just as salt that loses its saltiness is useless, if we fail to see and share the Gospel of Jesus, we’re missing everything. We become as impactful as salt with the Gospel of Jesus. Because we have been forgiven, we become forgivers. Because we have been saved from death, we become those who point dead people to the One who gives life. We preserve with the truth of Jesus and bring back those who don’t know Jesus with the preservation of the truth of Jesus.
In the same way that Jesus says we are salt, He points out that we are the light of the world. Not that we should be or we’re going to be, but that we are the light of the world. As Jesus points us to Himself for hope, life and purpose, He gives us the light of the Gospel.
Jesus says that we are light. What does light do? It shines. We are shining for something. Jesus follows up this concept that we are light with the idea that you can’t hide of city on a hill. It’s easy to see as the lights shine. And this is even before electricity. The reality is that a city raised up can be seen for miles. We see where lights shine. In the same way, lamps don’t get lit to be hidden.
Remember the song? “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine…” Do you remember the next verse? “Hide it under a bushel? NO! I’m gonna let it shine!” Kids always scream that verse for some reason. This is what Jesus is talking about: no one hides a light because it is meant to shine.
There should be actions in our life that are people pointing to Jesus. A good question to ask is, “What am I doing in my life that I wouldn’t be doing if I wasn’t following Jesus?” Right there is a bulb for Christ. Also, “What am I not doing, that I would be doing if I wasn’t following Jesus?” That’s an opportunity to shine and say: I am this way because of what Jesus has done in my heart.
The question for us must be: where are we shining? What do people see when they look at our lives and our works? Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:20 that God is making His appeal to the world through us! He is using His disciples as salt and light in a world that needs to see Him. Are we making Him visible? What kind of appeal for God are we making?
Jesus says that we cannot be hidden. People will see us shine. May they see us clearly shining for Him alone.