Network Discipling Ministries

FIND YOUR HILL AND SHINE!!!

⁸For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light ⁹(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) – Ephesians 5:8, 9, NIV

Read First: Matthew 5:14-16

Moving from His very illustrative lesson on salt, Jesus went immediately into another powerful analogy as He made use of the familiar element of light. This is particularly a very interesting feature because as the Light of the world, seated on the hill called “Blessing,” the Savior announced to His disciples: “Ye are the light of the world; a city set on a hill cannot be hid . . .” (Matthew 5:14)—the implication being, the entire world is groping around in darkness, just as the prophet Isaiah said in the 60^th division of his book.

¹Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. ²For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. ³And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. ⁴Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.

Isaiah 60:1-4

Jesus was literally exemplifying what He was calling His disciples to do. The Savior is the true Light which enlightens every person that comes into the world, because His life gives light to all mankind (John 1:9, 4). LIKE A CITY ON A HILL, JESUS, THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD, SAT ON THE “MOUNT OF BLESSING” as the Gentiles, who lived in darkness below, were gathering to Him. HE WAS THE LIVING PICTURE OF WHAT EVERY DISCIPLE IS CALLED TO BE. Just as a city set on a hill cannot be hid, and just as a person does not light a candle to put it under a bucket, the disciple cannot, and should not, live his life in obscurity from the world.

In keeping with His previous teaching about salt, Christ did not tell His disciples that they are like lights in this world. No, not at all! Disciples are not like lights, they are lights indeed. As a matter of fact, the Bible calls them “lights” and “children of Light” (Ephesians 5:8), and God, the Father of lights (James 1:17). In keeping with His creative law—every seed producing after its kind—God, who is Light, itself (1 John 1:5) can produce only what He and our Savior is—that is, lights.

Therefore, Jesus did not ask His disciples to try very hard to make their light shine. Rather, He invited them only to let their light shine. The ability to shine is an inherent characteristic of light. Left to itself light is always shining. However, it is possible for us to obscure, cover, block, or even conceal the light. Hence, Jesus says that we must remove the human shades and let our light shine so men may see our (really His) good works and glorify our Father in heaven. Less we forget, the light which we possess is not so much our fleshly performance, as IT IS THE LIFE OF THE RISEN CHRIST WITHIN OUR SPIRITS. It is no longer we that live, but Christ who lives in us (Galatians 2:20; Proverbs 20:27).

There is no better time than now for the children of Light to arise and shine, because our earth has become a very dark and dreadful place. Moreover, even darker than the earth are the people who roam its deadly terrain. Just as the stars shine brighter as the night grows darker, so must the Father’s lights as we rapidly approach earth’s darkest hours. Therefore, Lift up your eyes and look around you, for many who are living in darkness are looking wistfully to the hill for lights of hope and salvation.

CHILD OF LIGHT, FIND YOUR HILL, AND SHINE!