Shine

Read: Isaiah 60:1-3

Arise, Jerusalem! Let your light shine for all to see. For the glory of the LORD rises to shine on you. Isaiah 60:1

IN WORD

In a prophetic passage about Zion, and ultimately about all of God’s people, Isaiah sees the light coming into a dark earth. But he doesn’t just picture the light of God piercing the darkness. He pictures the light of God on His people piercing the darkness of the world. The words of this prophecy are not an appeal to God to rise and shine. They are an appeal to the people of God to rise and shine. The day of oppression, of captivity, of living under the darkness rather than above it, are over.

That’s a great message for people who feel powerless and who, according to their past experiences, might have every reason to feel that way. There’s nothing in this passage that says, “Base your expectations of God on your past experiences.” There’s nothing here that points back to disappointments or futility. No, this is an ode to a new day, a signal that a new era is breaking into this world and that it’s coming through the people of God. This is a declaration that times of disappointment and futility are passing away and new things have come.

Do you realize the implications? In God’s redemptive story, a new day has come, is coming, and will come. It first applied to the captives of Babylon, but it was bigger than that, a plot twist in the epic of God’s restoration of a broken world. Jesus initiated a new era, but this era hasn’t yet reached its apex. The light is still overcoming darkness.

IN DEED

You have an invitation, a calling, a responsibility to shine. God wouldn’t ask that of you if you weren’t able to do it. All of creation is waiting for the revelation of those who are His children (Romans 8:19). We are reflections of His glory, now to some degree but always in increasing measure. As humble and unassuming as you may want to be, you were really designed to shine with the glory of God in such a way that people living in a dark world notice. You don’t have to force it or fabricate it; you simply must live in close fellowship with Him. His light has risen, is rising, and will continue to rise upon you.

ADDITIONAL READING: Romans 8:18-21

To be a witness . . . means to live in such a way that one’s life would not make sense if God did not exist.

EMMANUEL SUHARD