Have You Lost Your Light?
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."
- Matthew 5:16
Awhile back I went to Starbucks with my friend, Marty Goetz. And Marty ordered a low-fat, decaf latte.
So I turned to him and said, "Why? Why don't you just order an empty cup and pretend to be drinking a latte?" Low-fat means all the fun is gone. And decaf means all the buzz is gone.
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It can be the same way with Christians. We can be ineffective because of compromise, because of sin, which is a result of leaving our first love. We are no longer the radiant lights that we once were.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden" (Matthew 5:13–14).
What good is unsalty salt? No good at all. What good is an uncarbonated soda? Not good.
I think there are some unsalty, uncarbonated Christians out there. Have you blown your testimony because you have lost your first love and turned to sin? Have you lost your light?
Jesus had these words for the church of Ephesus, which had left its first love: "Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place-unless you repent" (Revelation 2:5).
The principle for returning to your first love can be summed up this way: remember, repent, and repeat. Remember from where you have fallen. Repent, which means to change your direction. And then repeat: go back and do the things you once did when you were closer to God.
