beaming the light...

Our family loves college football. A few weeks ago, we received an email from a friend about Kodi Burns, a young Auburn freshman. It read, “Anybody notice what was on Kodi’s eye strips at the Florida game? It was Proverbs 3: 5-6: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”

What a powerful statement this young man made to his teammates, his opponents, and the media. He showed a watching world that his allegiance was to God. He ensured that other’s first impression of him was not of him, but of His Father. He pointed others to God.

It reminds me of Moses coming down from Mount Sinai in Exodus 34. The Bible records that his face was radiant “because he had spoken with the Lord.” The people actually could not even look at him – he had to put on a veil. His face reflected the glory of the presence of God. Which leads me to wonder….when others look at me, what do they see? Is God’s glory evident on my face and in my life? By looking at me, do they see Scripture? There is a hymn whose name escapes me – but the words are “May I prove I’ve been with Jesus…” and I wonder… by my actions, my character, and my conversations…..what the watching world sees when they look at me.

I am afraid more often than not, they see a tired, oftentimes overwhelmed wife and mother trying to keep her children in line, or attempting to check off another thing on her growing “to do” list. Instead of showing my family, my friends, and my community my allegiance to God by living out His will for me to join Him in His work, I can see that instead I am showing the world where my true allegiance lays….in being a wife and mother, in housekeeping and homeschooling. While these things aren’t inherently evil in themselves, they are not what should define my life as a Christian.

Matthew 5:16 says that I am to let my light so shine before men, that they may see my good works and glorify my Father in Heaven. Our church in Biloxi used to call that “beaming the light of the gospel.”

Kodi Burns beamed the light. Moses definitely did.

Are you?

Heavenly Father, Show us how to slow down and spend sweet, uninterrupted time with You so that we can go away from our encounter renewed, refreshed, and glowing. Help us to live out our lives in such a way that we may as well have Scripture written on our faces. Help us to beam the light of Your gospel to a dark and dying world. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.