August 5, 2024 Devo

My wife has a T-shirt that I love. On the front it says, “Be the Moon.” On the back it says, “Reflect the Son.” That is exactly what Jesus calls us to do in our passage today. I think it’s hard for us to think about being “lights” because most of us don’t believe we’re all that luminous. And truthfully, we’re not. But Jesus isn’t asking us to simply go around being the best version of ourselves. He’s asking us to reflect HIM. It's not more of US the world needs to see. It’s more of Him.
But how do we do that? It’s simple. It’s by spending time with Him. In Exodus, Chapter 34, there’s a great story about Moses being on the mountain with God. When Moses came down, something wild had happened. His face shone with the radiance of God. So much so that it freaked the people out. They were afraid of him. So, Moses put a veil over his face to calm their fears. But every time he went into the Tent of Meeting to be with God, his face would become radiant again. So, he would take the veil off when he met with God and then put it back on when he talked with the people. Don’t miss this—Moses didn’t have any radiance of his own. That glow was the reflection of the glory of God. The more time he spent with God, the more radiant he became.
That’s how it is with us. God shines Himself upon us as we meet with Him. When we spend time in His Word trying to learn and discern what He is saying. When we spend time with Him in prayer, pouring out our hearts and opening ourselves to His voice. The more time we spend with God, the more He gives us His glory—His character, His nature, His goodness, and His Spirit. It’s not our light people see. It’s His. His Son shines the fullness of all that He is upon us. We are just like the moon reflecting the light of the Son on the dark world all around us.
Do you really want to be “the light of the world?” Then plug into where the power and the light come from. Spend some meaningful time with God letting Him speak to you, heal you, fill you, and pour into you. Give God time to shine fully upon you, and then you’ll be ready to give light to the dark places in your world. Spend time with the Son, and you’ll be ready to be the moon. That’s God’s Word for you today.