Jan 28, 2008  Turn on the Light!

A few nights ago, Linda and I traveled to Charlotte to visit with our daughter Kelly, son-in-law Mark and (of course) our wonderful grandkids!   They took me out for dinner in celebration of my birthday. We were chit-chatting at the table, catching up on the “grace happenings” in their lives, as well as ours. As it frequently does,  the conversation changed to, ‘What are you reading?’

Kelly had just finished the book entitled “The Lone Survivor,” the story of Navy Seal, Marcus Luttrell. He was the lone survivor from his unit in the Afghanistan Operation Redwing campaign.  Kelly said her “patriotic blood pressure” went up after she completed the book!  In these days of preparation for the election of our next Commander-in-Chief we all need to let our “patriotic blood pressure” rise!  (I’ll develop this thought in later blogs.)

Before we returned home that evening, Mark gave me a book written by Dr. David Jeremiah entitled “Signs of Life!”  I hurriedly scanned the contents page and decided that there were some topics that demanded my attention.  

The book focuses on 40 different thoughts that will prompt you to examine your “spiritual vital signs.” This is something that we all need to do on a daily basis. Here is an opening question that deserves some special thought:

The book is designed around “earmarks” or images that almost suggest death instead of life.

• “…dusty shoes…”
• “…worn out knees…”
• “…rolled up sleeves…”
• “…an open hand…”
• “...outstretched arms…”

The premise of Dr. Jeremiah is simple:   “If everyone exhibited these signs of a life transformed by Jesus Christ, we could change our world.” The Bible speaks of “letting our light shine before men, that they may see our good works and glorify our father which is in heaven…” (Mt 5:16) Jesus declared, “I am the light of the world….” (John 8:12) John opened his gospel with this statement, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men..” (John 1:4)

Have you noticed that when light comes, that darkness flees? How sad when people love darkness and not the light and truth of God’s Holy Word!  Missionary E. Stanley Jones once said, “When I met Christ, I felt that I had swallowed sunshine!” Yes, Jesus is light and brings light!

Surely everyone reading today would know the name Thomas Edison. He was a great inventor and we can thank him for a lot of things that we enjoy today.  There is another name, though, that you probably won’t recognize. I confess that I didn’t. That name is Edward Johnson. He was an associate of Edison’s and we can thank him for our Christmas tree lights. (year 1882) Here is a short version of the story.

Mr. Johnson desired something different as his family decorated their Christmas tree. So, he poured all of his energy into producing a string of eighty small, brightly colored lights. As they sparkled through the front window, crowds of people lined up to gasp in wonder.   Somehow, it seemed magical - especially after Johnson developed a system for making them flash on and off. Wanting to see the lights more closely, peopled knocked on their front door. Newspapers sent reports all over the country and reporters marched, one after another, into and out of the Johnson home. It should be noted that no one really thought favorably of the lights because only a few homes had electricity. Furthermore, the cost of the first string of lights was over $100  - more money than some Americans made in a year!

Gradually, however, as more people got electricity, Christmas lights became more popular. In 1910, General Electric introduced a string of bulbs that could be produced and sold inexpensively, and Christmas lights have been a household items every since. (This excerpt was taken from Stories Behind the Great Traditions of Christmas/Ace Collins/Zondervan)

My summation is simple! We take those “Christmas lights” for granted! They are simple, inexpensive, beautiful and bright, yet used only 1 time a year!

I remained thoroughly convinced that our “light” needs to shine continually!  My conclusion is this: Turn the Light On!