"Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."
~Matthew 5:16
I want to learn to stay in the middle of not flaunting my gifts, yet not hiding my gifts. I want to learn to be very, very comfortable with being better than someone else, and I want to be very, very comfortable with the fact that so many are better than I am. Where did we get the mistaken notion that, as Christians, we shouldn't "be flashy"?
I don't know. Turning water into wine is pretty amazing. Healing blind eyes will get you noticed.
We are meant to flash glory-light - we are reflective image bearers of the God of light.
No one crosses the street for shadowy mediocrity.
Let your light shine! Let it shine in such a way that men can see your accomplishments! That is the inherent meaning of the Greek word for "good works": accomplishments. We get our English word "ergonomics" from this Greek word. God fits us to certain tasks, so that they become a natural extension of who we really are - and we can work without injury or undue stress.
It would be one thing if the Scripture stopped right there: ..."Let your light shine before men in such a way as they see your accomplishments..."
But it doesn't end there. The next phrase puts the whole concept in sharp perspective, "...so they may see your accomplishments, and glorify your heavenly Father."
For heaven's sake (literally), be an accomplished person.
Be grateful for the opportunity to shine in mid-life. God knows, our younger generation needs to see us taking risks and accomplishing our God-assignments.
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