| Philippians 2:14-15 – “Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, ‘children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.’ Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky.” |
What do you leave as a residue in your life?
Some who are wealthy leave large gifts to institutions or buildings with their names etched in granite.
Others bestow inheritances on their children or fund worthy causes with the money specified in wills.
But what if you are not wealthy? What can you leave?
The answer is found in the story Harry Lauder told of his boyhood.
He was born in the time before electric lights came on the scene. A gas lamp had to be lit by hand for the darkened street to be seen.
Lauder said: He liked to look from the window of his home during the gathering twilight and watch the work of the lamplighter with his long pole with a torch on the end of it. The man went from streetlamp to streetlamp as he ascended the hilly street, leaving a trail of light behind him. Then, as the road sloped downward, the lamplighter disappeared from view, but his torchlight could still be seen burning against the evening sky.
“That,” said Lauder, “is what is meant by a genuine Christian: one who is a light to his fellowman while still living, and whose way has been marked by lights when he has left the world.”
Paul understood what Lauder meant.
He too lived in a darkened world, one in which a small wick floating in a bed of olive oil flickered a small shadow against the wall.
In a dark world, you need light. So, he told the Philippians that their behavior was not unseen. In fact, it could do something dramatic.
“Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, ‘children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.’ Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky.” (Philippians 2:14–15, NIV)
Before you believe you can do nothing in this world, shed your light. Show what goodness and faithfulness looks like. And even when you are gone, the glow from your life will remain.
- Robert G. Taylor
robertgtaylor.com
