“Let your light shine before people” (Matthew 5:16)
We have several flowering Lantana plants in our backyard. We have them because not only are their small bright-colored blooms pretty, but they also attract hummingbirds. A variety of feathered friends we very much enjoy watching flutter around the flowers. Unfortunately, however the Lantanas also attract tiny spiders who revel in building their webs across the plants. One species we welcome – the other we do not.
A few years back a friend of mine was shopping at one of the local malls. When she finished making a purchase in the first store of her expedition, she noticed a striking woman in a long mink coat not far from where she was standing. She thought nothing of the woman, and continued on her shopping trip, but as she was leaving her second store, she noticed the same woman standing near her again. She brushed it off as a coincidence. However, when the same woman was standing near her in the third store she shopped in, she thought perhaps there was more to it than mere coincidence. She decided to head to the food court and buy a cup of coffee. Sitting at a table holding her Starbucks, it did not take long before the imposing woman approached her. She introduced herself to my friend and inquired of her if she had noticed she was following her, to which my friend acknowledge yes and asked if she could help her. “Yes,” the woman replied, “I have been following you because I believe you have something I need. You look so happy and content and I can’t help but wonder what makes you that way.” My friend asked her companion to sit down and began to explain to her that her source of contentment and joy was not a “what,” but a “Who” and his name was Jesus Christ. After a time of sharing the gospel with the woman, her new friend accepted Christ as her Savior. Amazing story is it not!
Do others see anything in us that would attract them to Jesus Christ? Jesus said in Matthew 5:6 to let our light “shine before people.” Does our light shine? Do we act different than the world does? Do we talk more gentle and discerning than others do? Do we smile more and perhaps have fewer frown lines than others? Let’s stop and ask ourselves this: If I were a flower, like the lantanas in my backyard, would I attract spiders or humming-birds?
Darlene