Let Me Be Light!

You’ve all heard the verse in Luke that says, “No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light” (Luke 11:33). In this King James translation the meaning is that we should not hide our light, but we should let it shine brightly for all to see.

Verse 34 goes on to say, “The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light, but when thine eye is evil thy body also is full of darkness.” When we go to the extant Greek copies of the New Testament, we find something interesting here. The word “luchos” that is translated as candle in verse 33 is the same word that is translated as the first “light” in verse 34. Therefore verse 34 could have been translated “The candle of the body is the eye.” Luchos is a metaphor for the eye because just as a candle illuminates the way for us to go, the eye perceives the way to go. Therefore the message here is that when our directing force (our desires and attitudes) is single to God our whole body will be full of directing light. But when our directing force is evil, we will stumble in darkness and have no light to share.

I don’t know about you, but I need all the light I can get. So the secret is to watch my desires and attitudes and keep them single to God. Then I will have plenty of light to put on a candlestick and illuminate my way.