This Little Light of Mine

ThisLittleLightOfMine

Mark 4:21-25
21 And He was saying to them, “A lamp is not brought to be put under a basket, is it, or under a bed? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand? 22 “For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. 23 “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 24 And He was saying to them, “Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. 25 “For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.” 

This might seem like a group of one-liners strung together as if we are reading from the book of Proverbs, but let us not be too quick to dismiss the relationship they share.  To first shed a little more light on this, let’s see what Matthew recorded Jesus saying in regards to this topic in Chapter 5 of his account:

[quote]14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.[/quote]

The second half of today’s passage from Mark is in reference to the first.  Jesus is talking about how we treat the light of truth He has given us.  God has revealed to us His existence and His majesty, so why then would we not share it with others?  Our purpose as humans is to bring God glory and honor, so let us not confuse this with bragging or showing off.  This is about bringing Him honor and glory.  “Look at what God did to me,” should be our announcement, not “look at me.”

Jesus also tells us that there is a purpose for the things that are hidden in this world.  Whether it is our secrets or mysteries of God’s kingdom, they are hidden in order for them to be revealed in His timing.  The revelation of hidden things is part of His glory that will bring Him honor.  Maybe this is why eating from the tree of knowledge of good an evil was a sin, because the revelation was supposed to come from God in His timing, not in our curiosity and disobedience.  Like opening a Christmas gift before it is given to you; yes, you still get the gift but it ruins the surprise and wonder of it all, doesn’t it?

In verses 24 and 25 it seems like Jesus is just spouting off random life principles.  It refers to what He said about letting our light shine.  Being bearers of God’s light (His word/ truth) we must take care of what we listen to.  We must be cautious not to let the truth be skewed by the world.  It is easy to want to have our ears tickled, seeking to hear what we want to hear, instead of that which is congruent with His truth.  In talking about our standard of measure being measured unto us, we generally think about judging others.  Yet I think this principle goes far beyond how we treat others.  I believe this is more about our faith and our relationship with God.  If we believe God more, we will receive more faith and blessing.  I’m not talking about physical things, rather our spiritual growth “and then some”.  As we take that little bit of truth and faith He has blessed us with and put it to work, we will see that He will bless us with more truth and faith and continue to pour out spiritual blessing upon us.  Yet if we waste it and take it for granted, it will be taken away. We must be good stewards of what He has given us.


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