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Shine Your Light
"Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."
-Matthew 5:16
(NASB)

Salt of the Earth
"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men."
-Matthew 5:13

The Bible Bound in You

from God in my Kitchen, compiled by Dorothy C. Haskin

Three men were talking about some of the recent translations of the Bible. One said, "I like that Phillips version of the Gospels. It's easy reading. The Berkeley isn't bad either."

"Maybe, the second man shrugged his shoulders. "But believe me, nothing compares with the King James Version."

"I know a better one," the third man said.

"What one do you mean?"

"I like my mother's translation best. She translated the Bible into life and it was the most convincing translation I ever saw."

The man was right! There is no more convincing version of the Bible than the one which is lived. As the Lord Jesus said, "Ye shall be witnesses unto me" (Acts 1:8). It does not matter if you want to be or not, the Christian is His witness. Some of us are poor witnesses. Others are inspiring witnesses. Either way, the sign that hung in a college YMCA is still true:

"Be careful how you live; you may be the only Bible some people will ever read."

Or, as someone paraphrased it,

"More people read the Bible bound in shoe leather than they do bound in Morocco."

A well-translated life centered on the teachings of the Bible gives much light. People so living are like the windows the little girl saw. For the first time in her life, she visited one of the large cathedrals in a big city where she saw the magnificent stained glass windows with the golden sun pouring through the colored glass. The child, noticing the figures on the glass windows, asked, "Auntie, who are the people on the beautiful windows?"

"They are saints," her aunt told her.

"Oh," the child exclaimed, "now I know what saints are! They are the people who let the light shine through."

An apt definition! Christ is the light of the world and only as we let his light shine through our lives, our acts, our words, are we living up to the fullest and finest for him.

It follows that the slightest thing in front of a window cuts off some of the light of the sun. Even a flimsy curtain cuts off its share of light. Every failure, every unkindness, every thoughtless word spoken by a Christian cheats children, friends, acquaintances, of a little of the light of Christ.

What a challenge to live and pray each day, "Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me."