“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Thought
I was very blessed with my Christmas presents, as I always am, but I didn’t get any new socks. That’s not entirely true; I did get some lovely warm fluffy ones in my stocking, but I didn’t get any new everyday socks. So last week while doing some shopping I decided to buy myself some new socks and I was pleased when I found a multi-pack of five patterned socks, four of which I liked very much. I like having socks that are patterned. I’m particularly partial to stripes, but I also like spots or other shapes. What, you might be wondering, did I not like about the fifth pair of socks in the multi-pack? They were lovely and striped but the stripes were in the wrong place, as far as I was concerned; they were on the underneath of the socks, so once you put the socks on you couldn’t see the stripes anymore and they became just a pair of plain black socks. All the other socks in the pack had their patterns all over the socks, not hidden underneath, and I almost didn’t buy the multi-pack because of them.
This reminded me of the reading from Matthew’s gospel which forms part of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus tells us that we are the light of the world. In my last Thought for the Day, just before Christmas, I was looking at the beginning of John’s gospel and reflected on how Jesus had come to earth to be the light of the world. Now we see that we too are called to be lights. We are called to be like my favourite socks, with our markings as Christians clearly on show for all to see, not hidden away so that we look no different to all the others around us.
At the beginning of 2022 let us resolve to be lights in this world. Let us not worry about being different to those around us, but let everyone clearly see that we are Christians. As the Christmas lights and decorations have been packed away for another year, let the light that entered the world that first Christmas be reflected in our lives throughout the coming year.
Prayer
At the beginning of this year we ask Lord that you fill us with your light, so that we can be the lights in this world as you would wish us to be.
Amen
Comments