Photosensitivity

Saturday 12/1/2012 6:51 AM

The streetlights in my neighborhood have photo sensors on them.  In the evening, when the sun sets, they come on automatically and in the morning, when the sun rises, they turn off.  I ran a little later than usual this morning and the sky was lightening as I turned at my halfway point to go back home.  As I ran I noted a number of streetlight were turning off as I ran past them.  They were no longer needed to illuminate the street because the sun was rising.

I immediately thought of Matthew 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world.  A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”  Revelation 21:22-24 and its description of the city of God also came to mind, “I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.  The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.  The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.”

God calls me to be photosensitive.  He has placed me in a dark world and asks me to let the light of his love shine through my life to illumine the darkness around me.  If I live in such a way that when those around me see my loving deeds they give glory to God, then the glory of God brings more light into their lives and I can turn my light off, allowing God’s glory to illumine their world.  God will then move me to a different place or bring me into relationship with a different person where my photosensitive cell can turn the light of God’s love back on to illuminate another portion of the world of darkness.

In heaven there will be no need of photosensitivity.  God’s love will be pervasive and we will all be bathed in the light of God’s love and mercy.  It will be obvious to all.  But in the meantime God calls us to be streetlights, illuminating our immediate surroundings, showing the world a little glimpse of the future.