Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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Resurrection- Sharing your New Life with Others
Isaiah 60:1-11
 “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.”(V.1)
What is new life?
Most of us celebrate life when a child is born. In the Chinese tradition the birth of a newborn child is celebrated by colouring eggs. Why do we give such importance to birthdays? Or consider new life so precious? It is because we associate new life with new beginnings, fresh starts, and innocence. Jesus gave us the opportunity to experience the ultimate renewal of life in both the physical and spiritual sense through his resurrection.
What does Isaiah have to say about new life?
The book of Isaiah is known as the book of salvation as Isaiah means the Lord of salvation. The salvation that is referred to is the salvation Jesus brought to mankind through his resurrection. As you read through this passage it reads as a poem of awakening and realization of responsibilities of man, in the days to come. It starts off by pouring the Lords favour upon us through his glory “Arise, shine for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you” where Arise has the meaning of awakening or re-awakening one’s spirit. Shine, refers to being illuminated, such as the Mar Thoma Church’s slogan of ‘Lighted to Lighten’. In following verses the Church (Zion) is then given the responsibility to share their light with others who will come to the church from near and far.
What are our responsibilities?
We are given the responsibility to be illuminated and recognize the favour the Lord has shown the Church of Zion. We are to rise up and let others come to us, and when they come we must be ready. We are responsible to share the Light given by the Lord and shine. We must shine so other see the glory of the Lord. I like to call this conscientious shining. It is the same sort of conscientiousness we have when we put our house up for sale and we know people will be coming in and out at any point in time; we make a contentious effort to ensure the house is spotless every time we leave. This is the same sort of contentiousness we need with our faith and actions. Others are coming to us as declared in this passage and we must be ready to shine our lights for them.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for giving up your life for us so that we may receive new life through your resurrection. Lord we eagerly await your second coming and we pray our words, deeds and actions will speak to the wonders of your sacrifice. Help us rise up and be radiant with your Light......Amen
Thought of the Day: The question is not, why am I here on this Earth? But what am I going to do with this new life God has given me?
Lysa Samuel, St. Mathew’s MTC, Toronto


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