JUST LIKE THE MOON

I love the moonlight. I enjoy it most when it is the full moon and the lights are out. Artificial lights always block it away making it obscure. I am sure those in the city have no clue about this.

From the science I did, I very well know that the moon does not have its own light. It only reflects it to earth from somewhere. That's the sun. The moon is just a solid heavenly body. It has no capacity to produce light. However, it brightens up magnificently during the dark of night. How it does it? It just positions itself in such a way that it gets sufficient sun rays so that it can light up. Depending on its position, it can either be a full moon, a gibbous or a crescent. 

From the moon perspective, I see a perfect analogy of a Christian. None of us can boast of having our own self-made righteousness. On our own, we cannot be blameless. We have been in sin since the beginning and it is therefore impossible to conquer evil. All was lost until Jesus Christ came to the rescue.

We, like the moon, attain our righteousness from Christ. Romans 6:18 says, “You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness”. Verse 19 of the same chapter expounds on the concept of our righteousness in the Lord even better. 2 Corinthians 5:21 talks of us having the righteousness of God by God making Him who had no sin to be sin. Jesus Christ poured Himself out for us. Hence today, each one of us has been justified to righteousness by the blood of Jesus. However, we have to make a decision to live for Christ. There is need to focus and shift our priorities to suit those of God. It is no easy fate. We need grace. The amazing part is that God promised that the grace will always be sufficient and it sure is.

As Christians, therefore, we ought to reflect the righteousness of God to those around us. We should be His ambassadors. In every way, we must live our lives to the glory of God. The moon cannot be reached by the sun rays unless it is well positioned. The same applies to us. We have to allow ourselves to be used by God through His Holy Spirit. That way, the light of God's righteousness shall fully shine on us making us to portray the same to the world. From 1 Corinthians 6:19, the Bible tells us that we are not our own since we were bought at a price. Therefore, honour God with your body. 

However, God's righteousness in us may not always be visible to those of the world. This can be faulted to either party. On our side, the Christians, it maybe because we have not fully offered ourselves to God's service. The light of God in us may then end up being too faint hence of no effect. On the part of the unbelievers, 2 Corinthians 4:4 says, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” In as much as we may try to reach out, not all will receive us kindly. Persecution is real and this is the work of the devil. He has succeeded in blinding most unbelievers to the extent that they fail to realize that they have a Maker.

The moonlight is always brightest and clearly visible when the lights are out. Thus, until the unbelievers shut out the worldly pleasures and give into the convictions of the Holy Spirit, they will forever be slaves to sin. Reaching out does not necessarily have to be the routine sermons and preaching. We can do it differently. They may not always be ready to listen but that should not discourage us. Nothing can prevent us from showering them with the love of God. Let us be there for them and bring them into direct contact with God through our actions. That way, they will be slowly drawn to the source of our joy in selflessly serving them. In the end, by God's grace, they will cross over and join us in our race towards eternal life with Jesus Christ.

Just like the moon depends on the sun for its light, let us also place our trust in Jesus to live lives that are righteous. The Holy Spirit is always at our disposal. We only have to pay attention to His convictions and the still small voice of God deep within our hearts. The only task we are left with is to just shut out the worldly noise and listen.