Daily Devotion 24 March 2021

Create a peaceful space to pause, and allow yourself to feel God’s presence alongside you, as near to you as your own breath. In following the reflection below, as a church we will draw closer to God and to one another as we grow in faith and deepen our sense of belonging to God.

John 8:12 ‘Jesus the Light of the World’

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life”.

Matthew 5:14-16 ‘You are the Light of the World’

14 ‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

When I was a schoolgirl, I used to spend all my summer holidays with my grandmother, my Nan, in Dover. In my suitcase was a layer of white wax candles covered with brown paper and then my clothes. My Nan’s house did not have electricity; it was a narrow, three-storey house with an attic with two rooms on each floor. The front downstairs room where we spent most of the time had a gas light and the back room had a gas stove and a shallow stone sink with the one cold tap and the one toilet just outside the back door. On the first floor was the front room which had the other gas light, but we never used that room. There were no other lights in the house.

When it got dark the gas light gave a lovely glow but if you wanted to go to the loo you needed the torch. When I went to bed my auntie lit a candle and went up the stairs in front of me, passing the dark picture on a landing and into my back bedroom, where I snuggled down into the feather bed in complete darkness. My auntie needed the candle to see to go down the steep stairs. Why we never had more than one torch, I never knew! I had to write home each week but when Nan had electricity installed, I had to keep quiet so my Nan could surprise my Mum and Dad when they came to collect me, by switching on the light.

My childhood made me really appreciate the difference between light and dark. Jesus said he was the light of the world and what a difference his presence makes in our lives as we live in this dark world. But he also calls us to be lights of the world. For as Jesus’ light fills us so we need to shine it out into the world in the form of our good deeds. He gives us the light – the ability – to be his hands and feet in our love for our neighbours. Our actions shine out showing Jesus to the world.

Thinking about my childhood reminded me of the very old hymn by Susan Warner:

Jesus bids us shine with a pure, clean light, like a little candle burning in the night.
In this world is darkness; so let us shine, you in your small corner, and I in mine.

Prayer:

Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for lighting up our lives and going before us showing us the way.
Help us to be your light in the world as we love and serve our neighbours. Amen.

Reflection and Prayer © 2021 Gillian Wood.
Hymn words no longer in copyright.
Image freely available online.

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All material within this order of worship is reproduced by permission under CCL 1226356