“Dad! Come downstairs and turn off the light!” my 8 year old son Jack yelled as he ran directly of the school bus, thru the front door, right past me and towards the basement steps.
“Well hello to you too Jack. How was your day?”
“Just get down here! I need you to see this!”
I walked to the basement door and started down the stairs. Jack had already turned out all the lights and so it was now almost pitch black. “Wait, something’s not right here,” Jack said, obviously disappointed, from somewhere in the darkness.
“I agree, something’s not right here” I said, confused about what on earth was happening right now. “What are you trying to do.”
“Well, I got this glow in the dark hat from the prize box at school. But it’s broken. It doesn’t glow at all. It’s just junk!”
“Wait a second,” I said, turning on the lights. “Let me see the hat.” He handed me a white cap with the letters G.L.O.W. spelled out in plastic. “I think it might work. It just needs to sit under a light for a while. See, it’s only glow in the dark once it has absorbed light for a while.”
We went upstairs and put the cap underneath a reading lamp for about 5 minutes and when Jack tried it again it glowed faintly in the dark basement. He then left it by the lamp for several hours and it was even brighter. Jack was overjoyed by this discovery.
This isn’t unlike our relationship with Jesus. Our default mode is not of illumination. But when we experience God’s love deeply and personally, thru prayer, study, worship, and service, we begin to shine back the love of God. Perhaps at first it’s just a glimmer, but the more time we spend with Jesus, learning how He lived and how He loves us, we cannot help but to blaze bright.
It’s this reflection of God’s glory that is apparent when we serve the people around us. When we serve others we are shining back the glory of God’s love, from the inside out!
