In the World, but Not of It

As I become aware of all that is taking place in our world today, I realize more and more how fortunate we are to be in the world, but not of it. Indeed, we are citizens of the Kingdom of God, not this kingdom of darkness.

As members of the Kingdom of God, we should be following the words of Jesus, who said, "Ye are the salt of the earth. . . .Ye are the light of the world, a city that is set on an hill cannot be hid" (Matthew 5:13-14).

The saltier we become, the thirstier other will be, and we will be able to help them quench their thirst with the rivers of living water that flow from us. To quench the darkness in our world today we need to shine as lights.

"This little light of mine. I'm gonna let it shine.'

When Art Katz, a former Logos author, was a young hippie hitchiking through Germany in the sixties, a man who picked him up simply said, "You know, all the problems in our world would be solved if we simply followed one command of Jesus." Art asked, "What was that?" The German said, "Follow me." Art said it was as if those words penetrated his heart and set off an explosion.

It's true--if we followed Jesus in all things, particularly with regard to His supreme commandment to love God and others, everything would change. Instead of this, however, we get caught up in the ways of this world.

There are a lot of angry Christians today who are not reflecting the love of Jesus when it comes to politics, the economy, etc. Instead of shining as lights and walking in love, they contribute to the darkness and hate around them.

Let's follow Jesus, remembering that though we're in the world, we're not of it. What we really need is an heaven-born spiritual revival that will sweep our world clean. It's time to return to our first love and let our light shine wherever we are.