Shine

Have you ever been to a broadway show or a football game or any sort of performance where the people you were watching seemed to be having so much fun that you couldn't help but want to get up and play or perform with them? Those are always the best kinds of shows - the players and dancers are shining with something contagious... makes me want to sing, or dance, or jump... stirs something in my heart - gets my adrenaline pumping.

For the past nine weeks i've been practicing with 49 other freshmen to perform an absolutely stellar show in front of hundreds of people. Nine weeks ago, the perfomance weekend seemed forever away - but now it's here and looking back, I can't believe it has already been that long! Everyday our directors tell us that our facials and our sharpness aren't in our muscle memory yet, so in order to do those things we have to think about them. With every practice our desire to win skyrockets... We want to be the best - we want to show everyone that we are the best; just as all the other teams want to.

Last night was our dress rehearsal in front of all the other teams. Before we took the stage my friend prayed over our performance - not asking for favor, but simply that we would have so much fun on that stage, that the crowd would be blown away by the light of Jesus shining through us. He prayed that we wouldn't be pretending with our giant smiles and big facials - but that through our performance the light of the Kingdom of God would be seen; it seems that would require great authenticity. It might require a change in heart for all of us.

don't get me wrong, our desire is still to win! But even more, we ask and we hope that through our ridiculous amount of energy, God will be glorified.

Think about if that was our souls desire, our hearts cry, in every single thing we did... What if in every day, in every office or classroom we step inside, in every phone call we answer, in every 5 o' clock traffick we get stuck in, every single person we come in contact with - what if our one desire was that the fire burning inside of us would be seen through our actions and our words - what if it became contagious... maybe the world would see us differently. Maybe they would catch the fire, and hearts would melt. Maybe bridges between people would be built in place of thick walls.

Isn't it interesting that the people who hated Jesus were the ones that were stuck on religion and rules and obsessed with the idea of catching Jesus doing something wrong? The tax collectors and the adulterers and the murderers and the prostitutes and the sick and the dying and the heart broken were all drawn to Jesus... They could tell there was something different about Him - they were attracted to the light that was inside of Him.

We were created in His image to do the things He did while He was here.

"I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works that I have done, and even greater works..." John 14:12

It's absolutely crucial that we strip off the things that dim our lights - Light is the one thing that the darkness cannot overcome. The light transforms the darkness.

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden." Matt 5:14

Maybe letting our light shine in EVERY situation in every day isn't in our muscle memory yet - it requires us to think about the image that we are portraying to the world. We are representatives of the greatest phenomenon to ever walk the horizon of the earth... makes me step back, and think about what people see in me.

I pray that the people that I come in contact with will not see me, but Jesus inside of me. I pray that with every day, he is more and more visible inside me. I pray that the love of Jesus will overwhelm the hearts of the people I meet... I pray that His love inside me will surpass all the religious chaos out there - He is far greater. I pray all of these same things for you...

Let your light shine, He is so attractive inside of you!