365 Days with God - Day 173: Hide it under a bushel...NO!

I'm giving myself a challenge. Read the Bible each day for a whole year, following the ESV Study Guide 1-year plan. Each day, I will post whatever God has revealed to me in His Word, and how it is changing me. A friend of mine once said that nothing has changed her life as much as reading the bible each day - and I'm excited for how this will change me. Join me on an adventure into the heart of God - and day by day, we can learn more about who He is and what that means to us!

- Andy Catts

Day 172, June 25, 2014

Readings: Proverbs 23, Proverbs 24, Deuteronomy 23:15-25, Deuteronomy 24, Deuteronomy 25:1-19, Amos 9, Matthew 5:1-16

I wish I had time to cover all of the beatitudes, but it'd take weeks. So I'm just going to pick one.

"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. (Matthew 5:14-16)

A lamp under a basket does one of two things:

1) It is burning so hot that it lights the basket on fire, and thus burns brightly anyway

or

2) It is snuffed out by the basket.

Which do you want your faith to be like? I'd rather the first one. I'd rather it be unable to be hidden. So bright, so prominent, so on fire that encountering it was unavoidable.

But where have we ended up as a nation? All too often we are trying to put our faith under a basket. Telling others to tone it down, to not share so much. Personally, I'm tired of hearing this stuff. Our fire is to burn brightly. Note that these verses don't say to ramrod our faith down other people's throats. It should be unmistakeable. Visible, no matter what.

So rather than trying to hide it, rather than continually making our faith personal only to ourselves, we should be making sure it's prominent. Constantly in front of those who look at us - so that Jesus would be known by our word and deed. That encountering the same saving grace and love that we experience would say all that needs to be said. Do you burn brightly?