If light doesn’t have a purpose, it is just a nuisance. Take the high beam of an oncoming car. For the driver it might be providing them with extra visibility, but for you it blinds and lowers safety. I hate those new headlights that seem like they are on high beam all the time. I know they provide better visibility for that driver, but I wonder if they did tests on the receivers side of the equation, to see if it caused decreased safety for the blinded driver? They certainly decrease my safety!
I am sure you have read about people pointing laser pointers at pilots as they are trying to land. Very dangerous. Pilots need to be able to see in order to land a plane safely. The laser pointer’s job is not to blind but to focus attention on a particular object.
During my college days the administration replaced the lights in our main auditorium without telling anyone. We went into the hall with normal lights on. Then in a moment they turned on the new lights. Yikes! We all felt like rotisserie chickens. The light was so bright we all had to squint. They certainly weren’t fulfilling their design.
The lamp referred to in our text is a small clay oil lamp, more like a saucer with oil and a simple wick. They were used to light small spaces of a home. If you wanted to see things, you put the lit lamp up in the air, usually on a stand made for this purpose. It could be freestanding, or something attached to the wall.
When it is used as a nightlight, it was hidden. Only some of its light was seen. Just like a lighthouse along a rocky coastline, the lamp’s light is meant to guide and protect. If the lighthouse turned off its lamp in the middle of a storm, it would not be fulfilling its purpose. To fulfill its full purpose the lighthouse light must be brought out into the open. It must shine in the middle of the storms. If it isn’t brought out into the open, ships smash against the dangerous rocks.
A signal flare is only useful if it can be seen by those who need to see the signal being sent. You send them up into the air so that people at a distance and those behind obstacles can see the light and know it is time for action. It does no good to set one off in the basement of a house. It would signal no one, except perhaps the fire department.
Spiritual Growth is the same. If others can’t see any difference in our lives, if they can’t tell we are changing and “cleaning up our act,” our spiritual growth is not fulfilling its purpose. Spiritual Growth is meant to be visible. It signals to others that God is at work, that His power to change is real, that His Word is true. It signals hope to those who might be caught in their sin and despair, that they too can be rescued.
Is your spiritual growth visible?
The Arnold Journey 