THINK TOGETHER.
Have you heard any good secrets lately?
READ TOGETHER.
Mark 4:21-22. 21And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? 22For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light.
When I was a kid we would sing a song called “This Little Light of Mine.” Do you know that song? This little light of mine; I’m gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
Honestly, I’m not sure I really understood that song when I was little. I think that I thought that it was a song about being good. I’m supposed to be good so that everyone can see MY light. Should I hide my light under a bushel? NO! Not me. I’m gonna let it shine.
But in Mark chapter 4 Jesus is saying that HE is the light. He is the lamp that cannot be hidden under a basket or a bed. Read verse 22 again. Jesus says that he is the secret that has come to light.
In what way was Jesus a secret?
Well God made lots and lots of promises in the Old Testament about a hero that would come and save the day. This hero was called the Messiah. The Messiah would be from King David’s family. He would be a great prophet. He would be a warrior that would conquer all of God’s enemies.
The secret of Jesus is that not only is a person from King David’s family, but also he is God himself. The hero that God will send to save us IS GOD. God sent God. God the Father sent God the Son (Jesus) to become one of us so that he could save us. That was a pretty big secret that now Jesus was telling everyone.
But Jesus also had another secret. The cross. The way that Jesus will defeat God’s enemies is not through a big battle or a large army. Nope. Jesus will defeat all of God’s enemies as one single man, the God-Man, dying on the cross for our sins.
Everyone knew God was going to send his hero, that was not the secret. The secret was that God’s hero would be God himself, and the way our hero will save us will be by dying for us. By being our substitute on the cross. That’s what the lamp of Jesus was exposing. That was the hidden secret that Jesus came to shine a light on.
And that’s the light that shines in us. Not just us being good, but us trusting that God himself loves us so much that he came to rescue us from our real enemy – our own sins. Now we don’t hide this secret, we tell it to everyone we meet – Jesus came to us to save us because he loves us!
Because of Jesus we know the secret of how to be saved – trusting in him to take away our sins.
With Jesus we can shine his light of salvation too.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Sing this little light of mine together. Think about what the light truly is.
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus, your light is not hidden anymore. It is shining in me. Help me to tell others about how much you love them and how you can save them. Amen.
TLICfamily 