It only take a Spark

Luke 8:16-18

Do you recall the song; “It only takes a spark to get a fire going, and soon all those around will warm up in its glowing, that is how it is with God’s love…” Jesus told this parable in three of the gospels, and in each gospel the writer shares the same results, Dr. Luke has the light under a jar or puts it under a bed, Matthew 5:15 gives this account of lighting a lamp and putting it under a basket, and in the gospel of Mark 4:21, under a basket or bed.  As followers of Christ, it’s wise, not the good thing, or the right thing, but the wise thing, and we all should desire the wise thing, to grasp fully what Jesus is saying to us.  Matthew 5:14-16, will help; “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Jesus wants each of us to understand that we are the light of the world; it is Christ living in us that gives us the light a dark world needs.  And verse 16 gives us our purpose, goal, marching orders, so a lost and dying world will see our light, our good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

The neat thing about a spark, if fed it grows into a mighty fire, if you allow your talents, gifts, and abilities to be used by God, they will impact the lives of others, and they also will have an eternal impact on others.  We are the light of the world, and must do as that song says, be the spark so that others experience it.  Those who experience it will spread His love to everyone they come in contact with.  It should be our mission to want to pass it on, for in our hearts is this happiness we have found, and as the song states you can depend on Jesus no matter where you are today, living in sin, in prison, a family raising kids or at the top of the corporate world.  Yes, you can depend on Him it matters not where you’re bound.  Will you be the light in this present darkness, will you, as the song states, shout it from the mountain tops, do you want the world to know, that the Lord of Love has come to you and you want to pass it on?  So remember it only takes a spark to get a fire going.  It only takes a yes Lord, I am willing to be made willing, let my life count so that others will see this new life I’ve found.

I pray you recall the prayer of Jesus to His Father about you and me,        

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”  (John 17:20-23 ESV)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice