Turn on the Lights

Growing up, I loved Halloween. I loved dressing up, loved the games, and loved going trick-or-treating. As a parent, seeing Halloween through my children’s eyes makes me love it even more as they too enjoy the magic of the day.

There is a truth about trick-or-treating that all children know, namely; no lights means no treats. The houses whose lights are turned off do not give away candy. Of course, every year a child rings the bell of a dark house, and every year they experience what Linus experienced with the Great Pumpkin, no luck. Instead, the best houses are the ones that have decorations in the front yead and lights on in the house. These are houses that bring joy and occasionally a full-sized candy bar – JACKPOT!

Thinking about trick-or-treating makes me think about Jesus’ sermon on the mount where he said: “You are the light of the world…Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Matt 5:14-16). With these words, Jesus is calling us to be the kind of people others want to engage. Jesus is calling us to reflect the love of God that we have received. The world needs the light of Jesus, which means it needs us to shine. This can occur in many ways. It can be as simple as passing out candy with a smile on your face or as demanding as loving those we find hard to love. In doing this, we love our neighbor and glorify our heavenly father.

May we be the kind of people who, after interacting with us, they say, “I have hit the jackpot!” Turn on the lights and keep shining!

With love,

Pastor Russ