“And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” (John 1:5-9 KJV)
Thursday night, during one of our church’s virtual Bible Study classes, the lamp on my desk kept flickering off and on. For the majority of the class time, the light was intermittent, alternating between off and on. Without any significant interruption of the class, although I was distracted and frustrated, I fiddled around, trying to fix this annoying happening in a fast manner. I tried screwing the light bulb tighter, twisting the lamp around in various positions, and checking to see if the plug was properly inserted, completely inserted into the wall. None of that solved the issue. After class I changed light bulbs. Still, I did not fix the problem. The situation worsened! The light did not come on at all. Frustrated even more, or better stated, puzzled, bedazzled, and fazed because I could not find the reason for the intermittent light. I abandoned my attempts and decided to just watch a baseball game.
Friday morning, when I got up to do my daily work, writing and sending out the Mark Writes meditation, I made a startling, surprising discovery. The light bulb was not loose. The plug, or at least what I thought was the plug, was tight enough, properly inserted in the wall. I knew it was not the light bulb because I had put in one that had never been used. You are going to laugh, but I have to tell you. Here is what I discovered. I was checking the wrong plug. The lamp’s plug was not the one in the wall receptacle. The one on the wall receptacle was for the printer. The lamp was actually plugged into the power strip on the floor. I obviously had been kicking it slowly loose while I was teaching class the night before. It was not the lamp’s fault, but it was my fault. The lack of light or the intermittent light was caused by me. I was not connected to the true light source. Somebody is saying, “Oh, Pastor King! That’s okay. It led to this morning’s meditation composition. Keep reading and see what I mean. Let me bring you into the light situation.
This week make sure, when things in your life are not functioning as you think they should, and when your “this little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine” is intermittent, make sure you are connected to the true Light source. Don’t check the wrong source. Don’t put the blame on anything or anyone else. You check and make sure that you are plugged correctly, completely, and adequately into the right power source, the Lord Jesus Christ, “the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.”
Enough said, for I don’t want to keep you from being on time for worship. Go be blessed by the Lord this morning and stay plugged in, stay connected with the Son of God all week long. And then, walk in the Light! For then, and only then, can you fulfill your purpose. Be blessed!
“Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5: 14-16 The Message Bible)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King