Your light can only shine in one of two directions

I live in an old house, and sometimes we have power outages. Not because of a storm or anything. Sometimes the power just goes out. That’s why we keep a stash of candles readily available in case the power goes out at night time, because until you’ve lived in the country, you don’t know pitch black.

On one hand, it’s incredible because you can see every star in the sky. On the other hand, it’s disconcerting because you can’t see that hand in front of your face–or the skunk in your driveway that’s feeling threatened by you because you’re out watching stars. You get the picture.

In a dark room, it’s incredible the amount of light a single candle can put out. It’s incredible how far light can travel. So just imagine being in a completely pitch black room with a candle burning. How would you react if somebody put a basket over that candle to block the light? Would that relieve you? Probably not.

Today’s verses are Matthew 5:14-16.

You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

Jesus compared His followers to candles shining in the darkness. Bright, burning flames that shine and are visible for miles and miles, all pointing to God. There are a couple of different ways to take this set of verses, and mainly the one I hear most frequently is for living a Christ-like life. And that’s so true. But I think there’s more to being the light of the world than WWJD. God made us each individuals, specifically gifted and specially designed to do something awesome for God.

Jesus wanted His followers to shine for God. That meant taking their talents and gifts and using them for God’s glory. Not hiding them out of fear of rejection.

In my experience, most people think that following God and having fun can’t happen at the same time. There’s this idea that if God wants you to do it, you should be miserable, that following God should be a lifelong sacrifice that requires you to never have fun and never enjoy life. And that couldn’t be farther from the truth!

God created us to have specific talents and abilities, and that means He wants us to use those talents and abilities. Why else would we have them? Otherwise what’s the point? You have a special talent or skill and you hide it in a basket so nobody can see it? What sense does that make?

But a word of caution. Jesus didn’t say to use our gifts so that we could become rich and famous. No, we’re to use our gifts to bring glory and honor to God. That means if you have a gift, don’t forget Who gave it to you.

So does that make famous people bad or wrong because they used their gifts to obtain wealth? Not at all! There’s nothing wrong with being compensated for something you’ve achieved, but as a Christ-follower, the spotlight shouldn’t be your goal–shining the spotlight on God should be your goal.

The light you shine with your gifts and talents can only go one of two directions–either pointing people toward God or pointing people toward yourself.

Jesus wanted God to get the glory for His life, and we should want the same thing. We should want our accomplishments and our talents to reflect God’s creativity and His grace and love and power, and everything we do should point to Him in a way that other people want to know Him.

So don’t hold back. Do your best. Shine as bright as you can and be loud about it. But remember Who gets the credit.

Get ready now because you won’t have time later

Yesterday evening started out like a normal Sunday night. I was getting ready for my workday in the morning (packing up goody bags for Christmas presents, if you must know). My folks were doing their own thing in another room.

That’s when a huge clap of thunder rattled the house.

We live in Kansas. A thunderstorm isn’t necessarily unusual–but a thunderclap that loud in the middle of December? That’s a bit strange. Even for us. But I wasn’t prepared for what I heard next: Dad shouting from the living room that our county had just been placed in a tornado warning.

A tornado warning? Seriously? Not just a “hey, watch out because you might get some bad wind” sort of a thing. But a Tornado Warning, which usually means there’s a tornado on the ground, and you need to get to shelter almost immediately (after you run outside and take pictures of it).

I dropped everything I was doing and verified that he was right. Yes. Big glaring red spot on the radar map. Heading straight for our house.

Of course.

Click for Video of the December 14, 2014 Tornado

The next thing I did? I grabbed my backpack from the corner and took it downstairs to the basement. My backpack has everything that really matters to me in it. My laptop with all my latest writing, and my flash drives with all my latest backups. Then, I put on my shoes and helped my mom carry down some valuables. Then, I went outside with Dad and watched the crazy amount of lightning.

And then, because I’m a hard-nosed, vicious, uncaring farm person, I grabbed my outdoor farm kitty (the unflappable and ridiculous Amelia Pond) and brought her inside to the basement too.

Just as we all got settled, waiting to jump under the stairwell with the twin mattress off the guest bed on top of us–the National Weather Service canceled the warning.

And that was it. We got some wind. More lightning and thunder. A bit of rain. But the rest of it went around us, or it died out before it got to us.

Some folks who don’t live in Kansas might think we were overreacting, but you don’t screw around with night tornadoes. Just like rain-wrapped tornadoes, you can’t see them, and you have to rely on the Doppler indications. By the time they’re close enough for you to feel the pressure drop in your ears, it’s probably too late.

Now, was it weird to have a possible tornado less than two weeks before Christmas? Sure. But it’s Kansas and anything can happen. Heck, they’re forecasting snow on Wednesday.

What I’ve learned after 20 years of living in this crazy, bipolar state is that you never take the weather for granted. Here it can change in the blink of an eye, and I’ve discovered that dyed-in-the-wool Kansans usually live very simple lives. Why? Because their material possessions may be blown away in a tornado a week before Christmas. If you live here, you have to be ready to dive into a shelter at a moment’s notice.

You have to be ready.

(not the tornado from yesterday)

Today’s verses are Matthew 24:42-44.

“So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into. You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.”

If you are a Christ-follower, you should know that this world isn’t our home. We’re just passing through. We will live forever in a place that God made for us Himself, but we don’t get to go there until Jesus comes back to get us.

The problem? We don’t know when He’s coming.

When you’re waiting for someone and you keep waiting and waiting and waiting, it’s tempting to lose focus. I mean, you’ve been waiting for so long, it feels like you’ll never stop. And then you start wondering if the person you’re waiting for is actually coming. What if you’ve been waiting for no reason? What if you’ve just been wasting your time watching for someone who never intended to come get you in the first place?

Christians, living on Earth with that mindset is like not believing that there can be a tornado at Christmastime.

That’s not to say that Jesus won’t take you if you aren’t ready. No, if you belong to Him, He’ll take you home when He comes back. But wouldn’t you hate to leave this life with unfinished business? Wouldn’t you have to leave people you love behind? Wouldn’t you hate losing your most precious possessions–your friends and family–because you didn’t take Jesus seriously enough?

Be ready all the time. Never stop watching for Him. He’s coming. Like a tornado at night. You might not be able to see Him coming, but you see the indications that the time is getting closer.

So don’t take it for granted. Don’t weigh yourself down living a complicated life with too many things that don’t matter. Live focused. Live simple. And secure the things that you never want to lose–like your own soul and like the souls of the people around you.

He’s coming. Nobody will expect Him. He’ll just be here. And then you’ll be gone.

Get ready now, because you won’t have time later.