It has been prophesied that The Assembly of Praise will be a lighthouse. But what does that mean exactly? If God wants us to be a lighthouse, then it would be helpful to understand what a lighthouse does.
In the dark confusion of the night, a lighthouse guides the way to safety for ships by warning them to avoid the jagged rocks near the shore. Least the ships sink and all on board perish. If we are to be a lighthouse, then we must both guide and warn. Sure, a lighthouse has other purposes, but to guide and warn is it's most important and primary purpose.
We must guide people to safety and the solid ground of Christ while warning them of getting to close to the jagged rocks of sin, least they perish. As lighthouse keepers, this is our primary responsibility and we must not neglect it for other things.
They may seem important to us, and even great beneficial ministries, but we neglect our primary task by giving too much attention to them.
Consider the following story from the "Way of the Master Minute" devotional: A lighthouse keeper, being compassionate and giving, regularly gave free fuel to ships that miscalculated how much they needed. One night during a storm, lightning struck his lighthouse and put out his light.
He immediately turned on his generator, but it soon ran out of fuel because he had given his reserves to passing ships in need. During the dark night, with no light to warn them, a ship struck the jagged rocks and everyone on board perished.
At his trial, the judge knew the lighthouse keeper was a kind and compassionate man, and he wept as he gave the sentence. He accused him of neglecting his primary responsibility-to keep the light shining, to guide and to warn...
The Church can so often get caught up in legitimate acts of kindness-standing for political righteousness, other programs and ministries, etc., but our primary task is to keep the light of the Gospel shining so that sinners can avoid the jagged rocks of sin and see the way to safety. Go shine the light saints. Go guide and warn.
I enjoyed reading this and you are so on point
ReplyDeleteI read this a couple times over the last few days and it spoke to me. It reminded me of 2 different things. The first was when I was around 18 and I spent some weekends at my grandmothers home on the Albemarle Sound. My cousin Donald and I were fishing off the bank in the early morning hours just talking and laughing and catching mostly eels. We had a little coleman lantern that you pump up for light. It was a really black night and as we fished I thought I heard a tiny voice across the water. Probably an hour went by and we were tired of scraping eel slime and we moved the lantern to pick up our stuff. We heard a strong voice coming across the sound but much closer this time. We waited but couldnt see anything because we had the light and it was sooo dark. After about 30 minutes we were able to hear a mans voice say that him and his son were fishing and the boat broke down. They followed our little light all the way to shore. They had lost an oar after the motor quit and the daddy had to jump over and wade and swim the boat in. They were in big trouble because they couldn't see the shore until they caught a glimpse of our light. Even though it was a very small light, it made a big difference to someone in need.
ReplyDeleteThe 2nd thing was about our testimony and how we are known by our testimony. When I was a child I would sit in church and we had testimony time on Sunday nights. Leroy Hall would stand up and always say that he thanked the Lord for salvation. "He lifted me up out of the mirey clay and set my feet on the Rock to stay." All I remembered about him was his testimony. Lord, please let my light shine for you!
I read this a couple times over the last few days and it spoke to me. It reminded me of 2 different things. The first was when I was around 18 and I spent some weekends at my grandmothers home on the Albemarle Sound. My cousin Donald and I were fishing off the bank in the early morning hours just talking and laughing and catching mostly eels. We had a little coleman lantern that you pump up for light. It was a really black night and as we fished I thought I heard a tiny voice across the water. Probably an hour went by and we were tired of scraping eel slime and we moved the lantern to pick up our stuff. We heard a strong voice coming across the sound but much closer this time. We waited but couldnt see anything because we had the light and it was sooo dark. After about 30 minutes we were able to hear a mans voice say that him and his son were fishing and the boat broke down. They followed our little light all the way to shore. They had lost an oar after the motor quit and the daddy had to jump over and wade and swim the boat in. They were in big trouble because they couldn't see the shore until they caught a glimpse of our light. Even though it was a very small light, it made a big difference to someone in need.
ReplyDeleteThe 2nd thing was about our testimony and how we are known by our testimony. When I was a child I would sit in church and we had testimony time on Sunday nights. Leroy Hall would stand up and always say that he thanked the Lord for salvation. "He lifted me up out of the mirey clay and set my feet on the Rock to stay." All I remembered about him was his testimony. Lord, please let my light shine for you!
I read this a couple times over the last few days and it spoke to me. It reminded me of 2 different things. The first was when I was around 18 and I spent some weekends at my grandmothers home on the Albemarle Sound. My cousin Donald and I were fishing off the bank in the early morning hours just talking and laughing and catching mostly eels. We had a little coleman lantern that you pump up for light. It was a really black night and as we fished I thought I heard a tiny voice across the water. Probably an hour went by and we were tired of scraping eel slime and we moved the lantern to pick up our stuff. We heard a strong voice coming across the sound but much closer this time. We waited but couldnt see anything because we had the light and it was sooo dark. After about 30 minutes we were able to hear a mans voice say that him and his son were fishing and the boat broke down. They followed our little light all the way to shore. They had lost an oar after the motor quit and the daddy had to jump over and wade and swim the boat in. They were in big trouble because they couldn't see the shore until they caught a glimpse of our light. Even though it was a very small light, it made a big difference to someone in need.
ReplyDeleteThe 2nd thing was about our testimony and how we are known by our testimony. When I was a child I would sit in church and we had testimony time on Sunday nights. Leroy Hall would stand up and always say that he thanked the Lord for salvation. "He lifted me up out of the mirey clay and set my feet on the Rock to stay." All I remembered about him was his testimony. Lord, please let my light shine for you!