14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16

Light is good because we can see things more clearly than when we’re in the dark. Our field of view is larger and more complete.

Darkness hides the things you may not want to see but it certainly focuses your attention more on just putting one foot in front of the other. Darkness can also be full of surprises because you don’t see them until it’s too late.

Think of a two-lane driving scenario. In the dark, you have a very limited field of view. You see the road and perhaps the road shoulders. When an oncoming car approaches, your field of view is temporarily more limited because it’s blinding. As dawn approaches, however, you get to see the countryside all around you and cars’ headlights no longer bother you even though they may be on.

As Christians we are the light of the world. This world is full of darkness. There are traps and snares all around us even though we may be walking in the daylight. We walk among evil, power-hungry, greedy, hateful, perverted, and twisted people all day long and often don’t know it. We don’t know what goes on behind closed doors. We can rightly say, “there but for the grace of God go I,” but these people still exist.

Sometimes our light will be blindingly bright but more often than not, it’ll just be a small candle to light the way. The Bible tells us that others will see our good deeds, which implies we are performing these good deeds regularly. Some people just need to see that candle to light their way. They need to see that there are authentic Christians in the world, those who are living testimonies of the Glory of God.