Time to Reflect

But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.

-- Exodus 9:16

This week's solar eclipse was an eye-opening reminder of our Creator God's greatness and power. If you'd like another, look no further than the remarkable images of distant stars and galaxies taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. Launched into space in 1990 aboard the space shuttle Discovery, the Hubble can take crisp photos of incredibly distant objects because it orbits above Earth's atmosphere--a barrier that can block and distort light reflected by the mirrors of conventional ground-based telescopes.

But you haven't seen anything yet. Research organizations from the United States, Australia and South Korea have joined forces to work on the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT). And when the 80-foot GMT is commissioned in 2022 from its location in Chile, its seven huge mirrors will help render images 10 times sharper than Hubble's!

It takes just a tiny point of reflected light from a telescope's mirror to change our notions about the universe. But when there are barriers--such as the atmosphere in the case of astronomy--we can miss the big picture or be misled by a distorted image. 

This principle also applies to how we live out our lives. "I am the light of the world," Jesus told the people. "Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." As Christ-followers, our lives are to always reflect Jesus' love in action. But we too face barriers. The world teaches us to beat the competition, climb the corporate ladder and keep up with our neighbors (and then leave them in our dust). We need the biggest, the fastest and the shiniest. And most of all, we can't forget that it's not bragging if we can back it all up.

But Christ has a different viewpoint: To be first, we must be last.

This bold perspective sheds a new light on things. And that's just the point. How much better would this world be if his people were to adopt a servant's attitude and put the interests of others before their own?

Jesus answered this question through his own example. First, he willingly surrendered all the advantages he had as God's only Son. He entered the world through the most humble of circumstances--a birth among farm animals in a filthy stable. When he grew older, he learned to make a common-man's living as a carpenter. Of course, Jesus could have lived in splendor as the King of Kings. But instead, he chose a nomadic existence for teaching the Good News of salvation to his people.

That's quite a life lesson. And it was one taught by the One with a humble servant's heart. He's the same One who came to serve rather than to be served. And he's the only One whose sacrifice for our sakes is counted worthy.

How can we mirror Christ's life through our own lives? Jesus says it all starts by accepting him as our personal Lord and Savior. As he told the respected religious leader one night several centuries ago, we must be born again.

The fact is that we are nothing without Jesus and can do even less by ourselves. But when we fully surrender our lives to God, it's through this brilliant Light of the World that we find our purpose in life.