"What If" Reading Plan by Matthew WestSample

# DAY 7: Remember that old Vacation Bible School song “This Little Light of Mine”? You know, “this little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine.” Now, thanks to me, you're going to have that melody in your head all day long! But I've got a beef with that song. Who said our light had to be little? Don't get me wrong, the sentiment of the song is right. I'm not trying to get this children's song canceled. (Lord knows everything is being canceled these days.) But, as followers of Christ, we’re called to burn bright. The Bible says we are a city on a hill that cannot be hidden. A city on a hill can be seen from miles away, but there are always forces working against us to make our light smaller. Culture wants to dim your light. Satan wants to extinguish your light completely. But Jesus said this in Matthew 5:16 (MSG), “You're here to be light bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep an open house; be generous with your lives. By opening to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.” We are light-bearers, called to bring out the God-colors in the world everywhere we go. Jesus just tells us how we can do that: by being generous with our lives and being open to others. I love that. He said by opening up to others, we lead people to open up to God. That's what it's all about. To close, let's look in Daniel 6, at someone who refuses to let their light be hidden even though his very life had been threatened. Daniel was a guy whom the king respected greatly and was about to put him in charge of the whole kingdom, but some of the other leaders tried to trick the king because they didn't like Daniel. So they were trying to ‘dim his light.’ A decree had been put out that anyone who prays to any other god except the king would be thrown in a lion's den. This was done because they knew Daniel was a praying man. Daniel knew about the decree, and what did he do? He went upstairs to his room with the windows open towards Jerusalem, and he prayed. Not quietly, but out loud, three times a day, just as he had done every other day before. He opened himself up to others. He stayed faithful. He didn't care what anyone thought. He wanted everyone to know who his God was. You know the story from there. Daniel gets thrown into the den of lions, and God protects him by shutting their mouths. The next day, when the king rushed to check on Daniel, he saw Daniel’s "bright light" and issued a new decree declaring that God is a living God. Why? All because Daniel let his light shine bright. He opened his faith to others even in the face of fear and threats on his life, and he became a city on a hill, influencing even a king. If that story doesn't fire you and me up to stand firm in our faith, then I don't know what will! Imagine if Daniel had fallen in line and kept his light hidden? He may have spared his own life by taking the cowardly route, but he would have regretted it his whole life. Instead, he chose the hard path, the dangerous one, and he got a front-row seat to watch God show up and show off. God is offering you that same front-row seat. The question is, do you believe that God is who He says He is? If you do, you don't have to let fear keep you from burning bright and allowing your light to shine. Don't let anyone ever make you believe that your light is little either, okay? Dare to believe that God is going to shine brightly through you. That’s the path to a no “what if” life. Forget “this little light of mine”; you’re a city on a hill. You're God’s light-bearer. Shine bright.