Windows

Yes, it’s the same graphic illustration from yesterday.  No, it’s not the same message.

When I first saw this graphic I was struck by the illumination. My OKsil works in stained glass and has given us fruit of her labor. Flat in a box, they are indicative of time-consuming work, but not until illuminated is the beauty fully displayed.

Stained glass windows appear rather dull when outside their buildings during the day. At night, lit from the inside, a portion of their beauty is displayed. But inside, with sunlight streaming through, they become the works of art their creators intended.

Sometimes explaining Christianity reminds me of these windows.

For the Christian, God’s light is as illuminating to us as through such a window. We see details that cannot be seen from the outside. We see the vibrancy of color, the truths that are held and we describe them to someone who has never seen such light before. We speak of a man who said:

As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. (John 9:5 KJV)

He was promised ages before, a light for God’s people:

Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. (Isaiah 60:1-2 KJV)

Without that God-given light, the beauty of Christianity appears dull and uninviting, for they see only the darkness wherein they walk:

The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. (Isaiah 9:2 KJV)

Matthew recognized that scripture as having been fulfilled:

That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. (Matthew 4:14-16 KJV)

Perhaps in the dark the light shining through those beautiful windows will help set their direction:

But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble. (Proverbs 4:18-19 KJV)

Can we truly be attractive to those in the dark? Can we be what Jesus required, showing Him to others:

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16 KJV)