Reflecting the Son: A Small Musing

"You are the light of the world.
A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket,
but on a lampstand,
and it gives light to all who are in the house.
Let your light so shine before men,
that they may see your good works
and glorify your Father in heaven.
Mathew 5:14-16 NKJV

I've heard it said more times than I can count that we are to be like the moon. The moon shines only because of the light from the sun that it reflects. (source)

What a great reminder! We are to be as the moon: reflecting the Son of God, Jesus Christ (through the Holy Spirit) and shine light into the darkness.

But what about the times we don't "function properly"?

Tonight, my pastor spoke about it from the point of eclipses. Defined from google, an eclipse is: an obscuring of the light from one celestial body by the passage of another between it and the observer or between it and its source of illumination.

A Lunar Eclipse happens when the sun, earth, and moon align, with the earth in the middle.

A Solar Eclipse is when they align, but the moon is in the middle. Both affect the reflection and illumination of light.

If we were to think about what that means in relation to our lives, we have two different types of eclipses: when we obscure others from the Light of Christ (solar eclipse)...and when others obscure us from His Light (lunar eclipse).

My encouragement to you is this: reflect the Son every day, letting your light "so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven." (Matthew 5:16)

If you stand in the way of others seeing Christ, the focus is on you and not on Him.

If you let the world, and the stresses and distractions of it get in the way of your relationship with Christ, then your priorities are still not in order.

If you see that you're eclipsing, get realigned with the Lord in a way that He is fully reflected in your life.
Get into His Word.
Confess your sin.
Pray.
Seek fellowship.
Keep your eyes focused on Him.

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded 

by so great a cloud of witnesses, 

let us lay aside every weight, 

and the sin which so easily ensnares us, 

and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 

looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, 

who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, 

despising the shame, and has sat down 

at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:1-2 NKJV