Word for the day by Christian Education Forum
Arise and Shine
Shawn Zachariah
St. John’s MTC, NY
1.
“Arise and shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon
you.”
“Arise and shine” sounds like words we would usually hear when waking up in the morning as the light of the sun enters our rooms. We are being called to rise from our sleep to embrace and use the light shining before us. This is similar to what the prophet Isaiah is saying to us; as the light of God enters into our lives, we must embrace the light He has showered upon us to spread that light into the darkness of those around us. In both verses 1&2 we read, “the Lord rises upon us.” If we were to sleep through the light of the day we would get almost nothing accomplished and most likely squander the day.
The light and glory that the Lord showers upon is similar to that of the light we receive from the sun in the morning. Our human tendency is to ignore the light and go back to sleep—return to the darkness. But if we were to do this, we would miss out on the opportunity to live as children of God. God has set us apart as His children to receive His light and His glory and to share it with those lost within this dark world. It is a sad truth that many people born into this world may never get the opportunity to read the Bible or be introduced to Christ due to the religious background of the families or the regions of the world they live in. When we carry out our daily activities whether it is going to school, work, shopping, or even going for a walk around our neighborhood, our actions should represent those of a Christian. When others see us they should see qualities of Jesus and God’s light within us so that they strive to be more like us. We should be inspirations to this world. We must embrace the light and glory God has placed in our lives and not squander it. We should strive to improve our relationship with God and spread God’s light to the people we encounter in our lives.
“Arise and shine” sounds like words we would usually hear when waking up in the morning as the light of the sun enters our rooms. We are being called to rise from our sleep to embrace and use the light shining before us. This is similar to what the prophet Isaiah is saying to us; as the light of God enters into our lives, we must embrace the light He has showered upon us to spread that light into the darkness of those around us. In both verses 1&2 we read, “the Lord rises upon us.” If we were to sleep through the light of the day we would get almost nothing accomplished and most likely squander the day.
The light and glory that the Lord showers upon is similar to that of the light we receive from the sun in the morning. Our human tendency is to ignore the light and go back to sleep—return to the darkness. But if we were to do this, we would miss out on the opportunity to live as children of God. God has set us apart as His children to receive His light and His glory and to share it with those lost within this dark world. It is a sad truth that many people born into this world may never get the opportunity to read the Bible or be introduced to Christ due to the religious background of the families or the regions of the world they live in. When we carry out our daily activities whether it is going to school, work, shopping, or even going for a walk around our neighborhood, our actions should represent those of a Christian. When others see us they should see qualities of Jesus and God’s light within us so that they strive to be more like us. We should be inspirations to this world. We must embrace the light and glory God has placed in our lives and not squander it. We should strive to improve our relationship with God and spread God’s light to the people we encounter in our lives.
PRAYER
Lord, we thank you for
giving us your love, glory, and mercy. We thank you for shining your
light upon our lives; helping us to use and spread this light to benefit
ourselves as well others living in darkness. Help us to continuously grow
in your name as individuals as well as a community to spread your word and
light into this world. Amen.
THOUGHT
FOR THE DAY:
“Be careful of how you live your life, you may be the only Bible some people will ever read.”
William J. Toms
“Be careful of how you live your life, you may be the only Bible some people will ever read.”
William J. Toms