WHAT KIND OF LIGHT ARE YOU?

Acts 13:47"For this is what the Lord has commanded us: 'I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.' "

Previously in verse 46, the Jews were pretty clear they weren't interested in what Paul and Barnabas had to say. So Paul and Barnabas took their message of salvation to the Gentiles by saying to the Jews, "Fine if you don't consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we'll tell the Gentiles instead." The Lord had made Paul and Barnabas a "light for the Gentiles." What is the purpose of a light? A light illuminates darkness, just as a spotlight turns a theater stage into daytime or a lighthouse beacon warns a ship of impending danger. The children's song goes: "This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine; Let it shine; Let it shine; Let it shine; All the time." Paul and Barnabas were not just letting their light shine; in fact they had themselves become the light.

Yesterday, I started this devotional message while I was at the airport in Portland. My trip had already been delayed by two hours (due to "mechanical problems"), when the airline's agent announced a gate change for another flight waiting near us. I noticed an elderly woman sitting nearby who looked concerned, so I asked her if she was on the flight affected by the change. She said, "Yes." I asked her if she knew where the new gate was located, and although her response was, "No", she was reluctant to accept my offered help. I insisted it was no problem whatsoever, and as I helped her up I also asked if I could carry her bags. She readily agreed. As we walked and talked, she shared with me that she was returning home from a visit with her two sons and their families in Portland. She also told me that although she walked two miles every day, she really had difficulty seeing, and finding this gate might have been a big problem.

I wasn't completely myself at that particular moment. I wasn't in a hurry, self important, or irritated with my own delayed flight and postponed plans. Instead, I allowed Jesus to express Himself through me in a random act of kindness. I became a light to the world -- to this particular woman. How or why I am not sure. What I do know is that I had been in the Word. The Word was in me and my light shined brightly for a moment in that act -- in this dark world.

What kind of a light have you become? What kind of light emanates from you when you walk into your place of work? Is it different than any other? What about when you are in line at the grocery store? Have you allowed the Lord's Word to reside in you? There were many needs in the Portland airport that day. However, the one the Lord showed me was an older woman who needed assistance finding her way to another gate. Was I an answer to her prayer? I don't know, but I might have been the answer to her granddaughter's prayer when she asked the Lord to help her grandmother get home safely. What about you? Will you respond the next time the Lord nudges you with someone's need? Will you be an answer to prayer?

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