Time to Reflect

In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed. But woe to that man who betrays him!”

– Luke 22: 20-22

It takes just a tiny point of reflected light from a telescope’s mirror to clarify our understanding of the universe. But when there’s a barrier — such as the earth’s atmosphere in the case of astronomy — we can be fooled by the resulting distorted image. This principle also applies to our daily walk of faith. After all, if we can’t see where we’re going, we can veer off the path and wind up in a ditch. So, let’s consider Jesus’ famous solution to this dilemma in John 8:12:

“I am the light of the world,” he proclaims. “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

It’s a reminder that our lives should always reflect Jesus’ love in action. Unfortunately, the world says we must beat the competition, climb the corporate ladder, and keep up with our neighbors. We also need the biggest, the fastest, and the shiniest. And most of all, it’s not bragging if we can back it up. But Christ’s concise message to us is starkly different: 

To be first, we must be last.

This sheds a new light on things … and that’s just the point. After all, how much better would society be if Christ-followers were to adopt a servant’s attitude and put the interests of others before their own?

Jesus answered this question through his own example. Although he was God’s only Son, he entered the world in the humblest of circumstances — a birth among farm animals in a filthy stable. And as he grew up, 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 undeserving people like you and me.

How can we mirror Christ through our own lives? Jesus says it all starts by putting our faith in him as our Savior. As he explained to Nicodemus, a respected religious leader of the day, we must all be born again:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,” John 3:16 tells us, “that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

The fact is that we are nothing without Jesus … and we can do even less by ourselves. But when we surrender our will to God’s plan — even in the most difficult moments — it’s through this brilliant Light of the World that we find our purpose in life. Let’s reflect on that.