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ET your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; 36 And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. 37 Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. 38 And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. (Luke 12:35-38)
In the late 1940’s, I used to spend summer months at my Granny Mae’s (grandmother’s) farm in Dawnville, Georgia. Electrical power service had yet to reach many rural sections of the country and that included Dawnville. We partook of the most nourishing and delicious vegetables right out of the garden, and fresh-water trout recently caught in the white-water mountain streams nearby. At night, there was no light switch to flip on. Instead, there were only kerosine lamps. These lamps provided adequate light for warm family gatherings before bedtime. But at bedtime, the wicks of the lamps were lowered to a point of only barely discernible light in order to make sound sleep possible and an easy re-lighting of the lamps next morning when the wicks were again extended. The dimming of those lamps at night reminds me of our tour of duty on this earth as lamps reflecting the light of Christ that burn brightly during our hours of labor in this life, and grow dim as we approach the close of life.
But there are some lamps that burn very brightly at first, and grow dim while light is still needed. These are the professing Christians who begin in eagerness to serve the Lord, but too soon grow weary with a false profession. Perhaps they were not sincere when they first claimed the Lord as Savior and Redeemer, or maybe they were distracted by the besetting allurements of the old life before Christ. Either case, the one who resorts back to the old filth of the swamp was not truly serious in his call from the beginning. The Light of Christ is not a failing Light. It is not the Light that Failed as Kipling says in his first novel.
The Church is composed of a mixture of the elect and the those who reject Christ while still marching under the false banner of unbelief. There were TEN virgins of Matthew 25, but only FIVE had sufficient oil in their lamps to light the way to the Marriage Supper. Five were respectable young ladies who, nonetheless, had no oil (Holy Spirit) in the lamps to be admitted by the Lord.
When the great German battleship, The Bismarck, was sunk by the combined air and naval forces of Great Britain in May of 1941 – perhaps the greatest battleship afloat – she went down with guns firing and lights burning. Should we, as Christians, do any less than a doomed battleship of the world? Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; That is especially true for those of us who endure to the very end as did the Bismarck.
Our lights are not our own if we have taken upon us the Mind that was in Christ. Ours is a reflection of HIS Light. As our lights are eclipsed in the sleep of death, His Light cannot be extinguished. It is eternal in that world to which we go beyond Jordan Banks, and remains a steady Light to those who have embraced the Oil of the Holy Spirit in this world of suffering and woe.
John the Baptist came into this world to prepare our hearts for the coming Light that was Christ. He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light. (John 5:35) The light of John the Baptist, and our own light, is not the Great Light that provides its brilliant beams upon our reflecting hearts: 6 ¶There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. (John 1:6-9) John reflected the greater Light of our Lord for his time of ministry, and so should you and I. A light cannot be hidden so long as it is not obstructed by the world. 14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16)
RISE AND SHINE
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