Isaiah 60:1 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.

I was reflecting on the qualities of light this morning. Did you realize that light is invisible? None of us see the light. We see the objects upon which light falls and is reflected. Colors and shadings appear as they are because of light absorption. If all the light is absorbed the color black appears. If all the light is reflected the color white appears.

We now understand the properties of light, light waves, wave lengths, visible and invisible. Ultra violet and infer red are still light waves which our eyes cannot see without instrumentation.

I say all this to point out that the candle we are not to hide under a basket is a reflected light. He shines upon us and we can be seen to be what we are in His kingdom. We cannot reflect anything more than what we are and the light will expose both the lovely things and the ugly things.

Christ is true and His light cannot reflect anything but truth. As time goes on and we mature in Christ, our reflection changes because we are changed. Anyone who is lucky enough to be around us long enough will notice the changes and know that God has been at work in our lives.

James 1:17-18 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

This verse ties this all together. Can you see it? Can you reflect Him?

Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

God doesn’t stop talking to me just because I am imperfect. Neither should I stop listening.

I’ve been writing my devotionals for about five years now. I will often discuss them with another devotional writer with more experience. The reason is because I am not perfect.

The resulting conversations help me codify my thoughts and clean up the language. If there is a more precise way of getting a point across it will be found in reasoning with a trusted friend.

The same could be said of any of us, even if we are not writers. Our theology needs to be tested and our communications clarified. If we are to witness to the lost, which we should, sound theology and clarity of thought needs to be explored. The unbeliever will hopefully reason with you. It is better to have them test you than to walk away.

Testing of these two skills needs to be done in a safe place. The streets are no place for testing unproven theology even if you can communicate clearly.

Sit down with trusted experienced believers and share your understanding of scriptures. Reason with one another.

Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

Sometimes you will find yourself the hammer, sometimes the sword, or even the anvil. All are steel and nothing gets sharpened standing alone.