Shine As Lights # 2

Shine as Lights # 2

A lesson here never to be forgotten! Let every believing child of unbelieving parents follow the example of this Syrian youth. There is no more likely way of bringing an unconverted father or mother to the Saviour, than a constant effort in things small and great, to show to them the loving obedience and tender affection to which the Word of God so plainly calls us.

Nor is this true only in the filial relation - it is so in every relationship of life. A holy life is very frequently the instrument of the conversion of those afar off. The careless wife is awakened and turned to God by the Christ-like spirit of the husband. The child is drawn heavenward by the sight of the father or mother walking steadfastly in the way of life. The servant is surprised and aroused to thought by seeing a master or mistress ruling the household in a way which she had never seen before.

In fact, a truly Christian life is a perpetual sermon to all around. A clergyman may preach two or three sermons a week to any who may be willing to come and hear - but a holy life speaks to those who never set foot within the house of God. It can be preached in the house or on the street, in the workshop or in the market place. It reaches the most heedless and indifferent, and sends many an arrow of conviction to the heart of the sinner. It awakens the slumbering Christian to more self-denial and activity, as he cannot but notice the difference between his own life and that of some zealous follower of the Lamb. It encourages young beginners by the sight of a reality in religion, and makes them more earnest in seeking to possess it.

Ah! believe it, my brother, my sister in Christ, God has put into your hand a marvelous power for good! You may be but weak in the faith - you may only of late have come to the Saviour; but by His grace enabling you, you may be continually sowing around you seeds of endless blessing. If you are living hourly, daily for Christ, your words and deeds, your very looks, your silence as well as your conversation, may be doing an amount of good of which you are quite unconscious. Eternity alone will reveal the good which the Lord in His mercy enables to accomplish.

But we must not forget the other side of the picture. Who shall tell the amount of harm which is done by Christians failing to live as Christ would have them?

At a post on an American lake there were two tiers of lights. On one occasion by some neglect the lower lights were not burning. This led to a mistake by the captain of a steamer, and the noble ship was wrecked in consequence.


Ah, how it teaches us a lesson! The humbler graces of a Christian life must not be neglected; the quiet home duties of everyday life must not be forgotten. Our daily walk, must prove our religion to be a great reality.

Not long ago I met a young man on a bus, with whom I entered into conversation. He readily accepted a book I offered him, and listened very attentively while I spoke a word to him about the Saviour. Then he told me of the stumbling block in his way. His parents made a high profession; but he saw in his own home there was no reality about it. Their daily walk seemed to him to make it clear that it was only a pretense and a sham - so he had given it all up. He wished to live a moral and upright life, ut nothing would ever induce him to go back to the old paths.

I never felt more sad in my life. I tried my utmost to show him we must judge Christians by the Book - and not judge the doctrines of the Gospel by the lives of Christians. I told him that a bad Englishman did not prove the laws of England were bad - neither did the inconsistencies of Christians prove anything against the doctrine of the law of Christ; but it was all of no avail. Here was the stumbling block over which he fell. Had his parents followed more in the steps of the Master, it is very probable his views might have been far different. I am sure this is not a solitary example.

When we find the children of professing Christians turning out badly, it is usually through some evil thing which has caused them to fall. When the secrets of home life are all laid bare, we shall have many a sorrowful tale of the sins of parents bringing forth bitter fruit in the lives of  their children.

Ah, dear reader, be on your guard day by day, if you value the souls of those who live with you! Put no stumbling block in the way of others; keep your lamp bright and clear; live blamelessly and harmlessly in a corrupt and evil generation.

Let not your religion be a mask, or a Sunday dress which you fold up and lay by when Sunday is over, or as an article of jewelry which you wear on special occasions. Nay, let it be that which it goes with you at all times and in all companies. Let it be worn close to your heart, and never laid aside even when you go to rest at night. At home or abroad, in days of trouble and in days of comfort, in the society of God's people or amidst the children of this world, keep the light ever burning. Remember your solemn responsibilities. Shine as a lamp on earth, and you shall by and by shine as a star forever and ever.

But how can this be? By what means can you, who in yourself are all darkness and evil, thus manifest the light?

~George Everard~

(continued with # 3)