Lighthouses

 

My second daughter and her husband just got back from a week in Maine.  Highlights of the trip, of course, were the lighthouses along the rocky coast.  Most of these were built before electricity and used only magnified lantern lights.  The Fresnel lens made it possible for a lantern to be seen for miles away!  Lighthouses are painted differently, and the only rule of thumb for the paint color/pattern is so that the lighthouse can be seen.  If the background is a dark coastline, the choice of color is white.  If the lighthouse is located on a prominent hill with the sky behind, a dark color or a red/white pattern is called for.  Wherever the location and whatever the paint scheme, lighthouses are designed to be seen.  They exist to warn unsuspecting mariners of danger.  Hey, that’s exactly what we Christians are supposed to do for unsuspecting fellow-travelers in life.  We are to warn them and to point to Jesus Christ.  Jesus said in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”  Just as a lighthouse points out the rocky coastline, we Christians should point to Jesus Christ, the only hope to make it safely to heaven’s shore.  Let your light shine today.  Point friends and neighbors to Jesus.