I confess. This is not an original thought. I got the gist of this from Joni Earekson Tada’s (@joniandfriends) radio show. But it’s too good not to share it with you!

When the autumn season comes, I encourage you to take some time to look at the moon – particularly a full, harvest moon. It is rather an awesome sight to see this huge orange orb dominate the evening sky. And when you see the moon, praise God that you are just like that moon.

The moon has no light of its own. Left to itself, the moon is a dark, lifeless rock floating in space. But the moon is a good reflector. As long as it is facing the Sun, the moon becomes glorious – the crowning, shining gem in the midst of darkness. And it is interesting to note that the side of the moon that faces the sun is a thousand degrees warmer than the dark side!

Isn’t that like you and me? We have no light of our own. Left to ourselves, we are dark and lifeless – without hope in a cold universe. But the light of the Son shined on us, and as long as we are facing Him we shine. We reflect His glory for others to see. And as we face the Son, we bask in the warmth of His love, mercy and grace.

The only time when the moon does not shine is when the Sun’s rays are blocked by the earth. Isn’t that true for us as well? When the things of the world get between us and Jesus, our light begins to diminish and our glory fades immediately. We fall into dullness and, eventually, darkness because we have been cut off from our source of light.

So the way to stay bright and warm is to keep facing the Son. John 1:4 says: In Him was life and that life was the light of men.

Which is why Personal Worship times with Jesus are so important. We let busy-ness, our amusements and the false importance of the worldly things “eclipse” our times with Jesus. Think about it: what is keeping me from spending 30 minutes each day with Jesus (in personal worship, prayer and Scripture reflection) – who is the source of my light and life?

Which is why living our Everyday Ordinary with Jesus is important. The Bible talks about “walking in the Light”, not just having an occasional encounter Light. Walking with Jesus means bringing Him into our workplace, our schools, our comings and goings (even in freeway traffic!) It means allowing Him to influence our decision making, our speech, our actions.

Which is why spiritual friendships with Jesus-followers are important. An important source of Son-light happens when the “moons” get together and share Jesus with one another. That is why Jesus said wherever two or more are gathered in His name – His presence is there!

One last thought: that there are stars which emit their own light, are more numerous and millions of times larger than the moon in the night darkness. But the moon is more visible and glorious to those on this planet than the stars. Why? It’s because the moon is closer to the earth than the stars. In the same way, we are the closest representation of Jesus to some people in this dark world. People will see Jesus through us, but only if we let our light shine. Too often we let the clouds of fear and embarrassment cover our light. We often hope that some other “star” might come and shine their light into the lives that Jesus has brought us close to. But YOU are the light of the world to these people. Don’t hide it, but ask the Son to shine even more brightly through you!