Several years ago my daughters and I went to the black hills for vacation.  Neither girl is as fond of the mountains as I am so to say that it was a joint decision would not exactly be true!  What happened was they couldn’t agree on a destination.  As a result, I got to choose.  Talk about a mistake!  They grumbled and complained the entire time we were gone.

One of the things they learned to dread was the long, dark tunnels.  The moment they saw a sign that read, Please Turn On Your Headlights, they knew we were in for another few miles of complete darkness.

Over two thousand years ago, Christ looked out on a world that had grown dark with sin and hate.  He saw countless people lost and alone, without a light to guide them.  So, he sat down on a mountain side with his disciples and said “let your light shine before others,  so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16b).

We still live in a world where the darkness is threatening to overtake so many people.  Yet, at the same time, Christians have become strangely silent.  It is as if we are afraid to let our light shine so that others might find their way back to Christ – back to a world that is filled with the love of God. 

Where would we be today if those people seated on the mountainside had ignored the words of our Lord and had never let their lights shine?  Where would we be if some faithful person had not stepped into our lives when we, too, were sinking into the darkness and offered us words of hope – words that gave us the courage . . . the faith . . . to continue believing and trusting?  Who might be waiting for you to do the same for  him or her this very day?