Recognized

You are the light of the world.  Jesus said so.  So, look like it and act like it.

Text for Today – Acts 4:13 – Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.

Have you ever met someone for the first time, and yet something about them was so familiar?  There are all kinds of reasons why this might happen; they look like someone you know, you may have met them in the past and forgotten it, and sometimes, there’s just that something about them. 

From our Text for Today, we see that the religious leaders, though they may not have known Peter and John personally, did take note of something different about them.  Note the words, “they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.”  Though Peter and John were ignorant and unlearned by the world’s standards, yet the religious leaders “marveled” at them.

How about you?  How are you known?  Have you been so long with Jesus that wherever you go, whomever you encounter, even among people you’ve never met or encountered, people recognize something about you that is different?  Are you the kind of person, that seemingly no matter where you are, people have a natural ease at asking for directions or information from you?  Is there something in your nature that says to people all around you that you are someone in the know?

Well, there should be.  Is God your Father?  Is Jesus your Lord?  Are you full of Holy Ghost?  Is your heart filled with the Word of God?  Are you walking in obedience to that Word and the leadership of Holy Ghost?  If your answer to these questions is “yes,” then the world should be seeing something in you that causes you to stand out. 

What they should see is LIGHT!  Jesus said you are the “light of the world.”  He also said that you should “let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”  I often hear Christians say they really don’t want to be seen.  To use an old country boy’s expression; “Friend, that ole dog don’t hunt.”  Jesus said you are to be seen, so grow up, and get used to it.  This world is in darkness, and when light walks into the room, they ought to notice it.  I’m not talking about being lifted up in pride, but rather lifting up the Name of Jesus by just being who you are.  In order to bring glory to God, live your life as one that is recognizably Christ living in you.

Manna for Today –  2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Matthew 5; 1 Corinthians 1:30