Nov
17
2014
Lesser Light
Posted in Evangelism 2 Comments
The day after Thanksgiving is the day we decorate the house for Christmas.
I am not getting ahead of myself.
I love Thanksgiving: the food preparation, the family gathered, the attitude of gratitude.
However, this time of year I am thinking ahead; making a mental note of things we need.
Christmas lights, new ornaments, family Christmas card, all go on my checklist.
This year I was contemplating new window candles.
That has been a mainstay to our decorating for my entire married life.
There is something so welcoming about seeing a lit candle in the window.
The light seems to beckon: Come Home.
I took an inventory of the twenty candles we need for all of our front windows.
I went through each room and counted; yes, twenty and that included the garage.
I had seen a new type of candle in the store.
Sensor candles: on at dark, off at dawn.
I thought that might be a good idea.
Automatic.
No need to go through the house and turn on every candle.
They were on sale and I bought them: twenty, one for each window.
I brought them home.
My husband just looked at me with that engineer look.
You know they are not all going to go on at the same time.
I could feel myself deflating.
The front of the house gets different amounts of light, so they will go on randomly.
Why is the one thing that attracts you to someone the one thing that can drive you crazy?
I needed a cheerleader, someone equally excited about the sensor candles.
Instead, I got a levelheaded engineer, who is usually right about these things.
Why don’t we plug it in the front dining room window to find out?
I said this, trying to justify myself; I knew this candle was the answer.
The candle had to be turned a certain way so the sensor faced the window.
It was almost dusk, so when my husband plugged it in, the candle lit immediately.
However, the cord twisted a bit to accommodate the distance to the plug.
With every twist, the candle went out.
My husband fiddled with the cord to keep it straight.
Success, though I cringed at the thought of doing that to nineteen more candles.
I went into the kitchen to make dinner.
I was thinking ahead to our decorating day, imagining the house in my mind.
I had to go into the dining room to get something.
I noticed that my sensor candle was not lit.
Next to the candle is a little light; a small light that casts a welcoming glow.
It was just enough light to trick the sensor candle into thinking it was daylight.
That would not do.
All the front bedrooms have lamps that when on, will turn off the sensor candle.
I made a mental note that I would be returning twenty sensor candles to the store.
I should have remembered my history with sensor lights.
I remember a Christmas when our oldest son was three years old.
One of his gifts was a Playskool garage and workshop.
The company only made this toy for a short time.
It was his main gift.
It came with a man, a car, a lawnmower, and workshop tools.
It had a basketball hoop and ball and even included a toy hose attached to the garage.
I knew that he would spend hours on the floor playing with his garage.
When my husband and I carried all the presents downstairs, it happened.
The garage had two doors, which you could open with a garage door opener.
You aimed the garage opener towards the sensor light that was on the side of the garage.
We had not even put batteries in the garage door opener, yet the doors flung open.
We stood there frozen, listening for little footsteps upstairs.
When you are trying to be as quiet as a mouse, a whirring sound is a give-away.
We could not figure out how this kept happening.
We did not want to wake the children.
We realized that the light of the Christmas tree acted as the garage door opener.
As we passed the tree, the doors flung open.
As we turned away, we heard the whirring sound again as the garage doors closed.
His garage was successfully placed with his other presents; a story tucked away for later.
One little sensor light.
A light that was so in sync with another light.
A small sensor light that responded to the greater light.
A greater light that overshadowed the lesser light.
To this, John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of Him.’ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater and I must become less. (John 3:27-30)
He must become greater and I must become less.
I am just a sensor light that shines because of Him.
I am the lesser light that pales in comparison to His great light.
As it should be.
He shines.
I reflect.
He the Great Light.
I the lesser light.
Reflected Glory.
Concealed Dignity.
Always facing the Light, never turning away.
Go forth and shine.
Such a good reminder! Let’s make our light shine to lead others to the true Light, our Lord Jesus!
Amen, Sue!
Shine!