“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 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.  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

This is already one of those days when everything is way too busy, my commitments are backed up and overlapping, and I have no time for the luxury of writing on my blog.

However, and this is really important, this frenetic busyness reminds that when I think I am too busy to set time aside for prayer and devotion, I find myself so far behind by mid-morning that the choice to skip ten minutes with God looks as foolish and as counterproductive as it in fact is.

My reason for posting late today is my work as a journalist. I just finished a long interview with a young clergy couple leading a church plant in South Tampa. I am putting a story together for the Methodist Foundation I write for, so I will not scoop that feature here; but I will say this: Erica and Chris’s passion for ministry, for people, for putting together the bones of a new faith community, and for sharing the Good News about Jesus with those who are unchurched, gave me a lot of joy this morning.

This is what I am reminded of. The majority of people who do not go to church stay away for good reason. The reasons are legion, but they essentially boil down to the fact that we have all done a poor job when it comes to representing the love, light, joy, grace, mercy, hope, encouragement, and promise that Jesus came to invite us into.

This is one of my favorite things to say, and I’m writing it down again for good measure! “Effective evangelism is nothing more (and certainly nothing less) than being so filled up with light and love that it can’t help but spill out and get all over those around us.”

“You,” Jesus said, “are the light of the world.”

So shine already – DEREK