Who’s Blocking the Light?
Bible Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:5-6
You are all children of the light and of the day. 1 Thessalonians 5:5
Mara’s big brother, Brent, was proud of his classic 1967 Mustang convertible. But he didn’t keep it clean, so a friend wrote “Wash me” on it and scratched the paint with his fingernail. Brent yelled at his friend for scratching the car.
On the way home from work one day, a passing truck threw a sheet of mud across Brent’s windshield. It should have been no big deal—except that Brent had let his car run out of wiper fluid. As Brent tried to steer his car, the road was invisible through the mud-smeared windshield. He accidentally swerved across the centerline into oncoming traffic. He was very fortunate that no cars were coming, because he could easily have had a head-on collision.
Sometimes other people are like that mud-splashing truck. You’re motoring through life and suddenly an enemy smears you. Or your friends are like the car-scratching guy. They may scratch you with their words until it really hurts. Sometimes the pain even comes from someone close to you:
• A family member treats you like you’re worthless.
• A friend avoids you, ignores you, harasses you, or ridicules you.
• A classmate calls you names like “loser,” “numb-brain,” or “clod.”
That kind of mud blocks God’s light from your life. God sees you as lovable, valuable, and capable, but the more mud people splash, the harder it is for you to see God’s truth about who you are. When you feel hurt, you’re likely to fling mud at everyone around you. Or run off the road.
If you have difficulty seeing yourself as lovable, valuable, and capable, it might be because God’s truth is being blocked from your view by people who cover up the truth of your true identity. Could that be happening to you? Ask yourself
• Do the people I hang out with the most see me as God does?
• Do my best friends reinforce what the Bible says about me?
• Do these people reflect Jesus’ love for me?
If the closest people in your life keep flinging mud your way, you will have a tough time seeing through the slop to get God’s view of you. But making sure you have the right people in your life is like filling up on God’s kind of wiper fluid. It’s what you need to clear away the smears.
TALK: Do your close friends see you as God sees you? Is it time to get some new friends?
PRAY: God, help us pick the right friends so your light floods our life.
ACT: Stop yourself today if you fling mud at people—if you say or do anything that communicates that they are less than lovable, valuable, and capable.