Shine Like the Sun

       We were driving as a family, heading south as the sun began it’s glorious ascent from the horizon on the east. Our home is tucked neatly in amongst strong, solid oaks and rich, healthy maples, so we rarely see the sunrise as a family. Perhaps the beauty and glory that God intended the sunrise to display has not yet been lost on our children through that bane of sinful men, familiarity. May we all delight in every single sunrise and never let a single sunrise pass without being reminded that God set the sun on its course this day, as on all other days. One of my daughters gave words to what seemed to be tapping on each of our hearts – this sunrise was beautiful. As we observed the brilliance of what the light of the sun is and does, that same blessed daughter remarked that the sun was making my face shine (as I was thinking to myself that the sun was awfully bright and I should have brought sunglasses). Praise the LORD for the beauty that he has placed all around us in his creation, and the examples he gives us in scripture to point our hearts to Christ and his glories, AND the opportunities he gives us as parents to present these truths to our children in every day, familiar things! God, by his Holy Spirit, has presented to us many ways in which Jesus Christ is the light of the world, the light in the darkness, how the sun testifies to his faithfulness and promise and glory and how Jesus will actually make the sun unnecessary when he returns by his awesome light. The 3rd and 4th graders are studying the gospel of Matthew on Wednesday nights. (insert plug for Immerse, Wednesday 6:15ish, it is not too late to start coming and looking again at the true light, Jesus our King, with your brothers and sisters!) In Matthew 13:43, Jesus concludes the explanation of a parable about the kingdom of heaven by saying “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” After pronouncing sure and certain judgement on sin and lawbreakers, the unrighteous, Jesus holds out a profound and glorious promise. The righteous will shine like the sun. This is incomprehensible. No wonder Jesus concludes this verse by saying “He who has ears, let him hear.” Shine like the sun? Those who were once his enemies, those whom Jesus Christ has redeemed for his sovereign good pleasure, will actually shine like the sun. But if we hold to a high view of Jesus as the Son of the living God, when we consider the overpowering awesomeness of the true light of Christ, when he is no longer veiled but reveals his full Deity in glory, how could those who spend eternity with him not shine like the sun! We reflect Jesus now, though marred and tarnished, as we grow in conformance to him. This is strong encouragement to continue looking toward the light each day. But we also look with joy to the day of the Lord. God, who began a good work in his people, each one of them, will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. Look, brother and sister! Take heart, father and mother! Come closer, son and daughter. Has it been many days, or months, since you basked in the light of Christ? Do you wonder where you are going in this present evil and dark world? Are you experiencing the frailty of this sin-ridden frame, your physical body? Those who belong to Jesus the King of the kingdom, have a promise as sure as the daily ascent of the sun. You are not far from shining like the sun, in the presence of your Lord and Savior, your light in this darkness, Jesus Christ.

Sam Umlauf