Matthew 5: 14-16
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;
nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it
gives light to all who are in the house.
“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works,
and glorify, your Father, who is in heaven.
As I think of the world population (more or less 7 billion), the thing that comes into my mind are always these questions; how many of this population has a personal relationship with God? How many are hopeless people, and if Christ is going to come back tonight, sure they will perish in hell? And if we (Christians/believers/Christian churches) are aware of this, what are we doing about it?
For the sake of knowing approximately how big the scope of the task is, let us consider this analysis; Let say there are at least 15% of the world population are genuine Christians, and that is 1.05 billion. There are still 5.95 billion who are not believers. Avery Willis (Master life author), preached at University Baptist Church Manila one time and said that “just by mentioning the name of Jesus to each one of these people, it will take more than a hundred years until the last person hears it.” Now, that is if they will not multiply biologically in that period. But we know for a fact that every second of a day, hundreds are being born. If that is the case, the task is getting bigger. The statistics mentioned above is a great challenge for all of us.
On the other hand, I’m glad to know also that there are churches, Christian organizations, and individual Christians who are seriously taking what they are as Jesus labeled as – “the light of the world.” A lot of them are letting their light so shine before men. But their presence/light is just limited in some areas, which means others have the responsibility to let their light shine as well in other areas. It will be a glorious day indeed when all Christians and churches are united and altogether let our lights shine on top of the hill. When that happens, it’s like a harvest time here on earth. I can’t wait to see that happen.
There’s only one question that we must analyze; is there such a light that could be hidden, or is there much light on top of the hill that cannot be noticed? Jesus says in verse 14b-15, “A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.”
The point here is this-use things for its designed use. Light is meant to shine and give light to dark areas. When Jesus called us lights (figuratively), we are meant to shine and to provide light to the dark area (5.95 billion) of the world wherever you are. So, don’t hide your light, let it shine before men!
