Matthew 5:16 “…let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
Photo albums have given way to posts on facebook, perhaps, but pictures, whether encased in a book, framed on a wall or viewed on the internet, capture small segments in time we want to remember. Pictures of newborn babies, first days of the school year, blowing out candles on a birthday cake, a bride and groom kissing— or if you’re like us—pictures of Washington DC’s cherry blossoms keep memories alive.
There are other “snapshots” in history formed not by photographs, but by words that have become indelible…Give me liberty or give me death! I have a dream. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall! Houston, we have a problem. Song lyrics carry a similar impact…from “Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down” to “The answer my friend is blowin’ in the wind.” Familiar tunes instantly transport us to a different time, a different decade.
I think we as believers are like God’s photo album on the earth. People see our deeds, hear our words, and have the opportunity to remember what God is really like. He wants to sing his song, if you will, through us. A song that reminds people that despite the cultural caricatures, he is a God of love, justice and mercy.
Ravi Zacharias has made a sad, but convincing observation. “I have little doubt that the single greatest obstacle to the impact of the gospel has not been in its inability to provide answers, but the failure on our part to live it out.” Let’s not be a part of that obstacle. Let’s show a depleted world what God’s grace looks like, how true forgiveness operates. Let’s demonstrate faith working through love. Maybe we can ignite the memory of a Sunday School story that once fed a child-like wonder. Or help a heart hardened by sin’s deceptiveness return to the place where receptivity to the Gospel was first abandoned.
May you and I sing a song that causes people to reflect…Our God is an awesome God; He reigns from heaven above; our God is an awesome God….