Be A Window

"Help me spread Your fragrance where ever I go. Flood my soul with Your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly, that my life may be only a radiance of Yours. Shine through me, and be so in me that every soul I know would feel Your presence in my soul. Let them look up and see no longer me, but only You."

These are the lyrics to a song that the Concert Choir at AFLBS is singing this year and I haven't been able to get the words out of my head. It is based on a prayer from Mother Theresa, a missionary to India in the mid-1900s. The text that I italicized has especially stood out to me lately, as our director Mr. Hanson once heard-- we are to be windows for the Lord, not mirrors.

That really made me think as to what the purpose of a window as opposed to that of a mirror. Webster's defines them as following:

• Mirror: something that gives a true representation

• Window: opening ... for admission of light and air

To think of it in those terms gave me a different perspective. I do want to represent Christ on this earth, but how much more should our lives display Christ? Think of a clean window with light shining through it--do you notice the window or the light? Your answer, of course, is the light. If we are acting as a window for the Lord, people will notice God instead of us. What an amazing witness that would be!

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." --Matthew 5:14-16

Where does our light come from? In ourselves we cannot produce light-- we have nothing good in ourselves. The light that shines through us is Christ--let HIM shine through you today. So that people will look up and see no longer you, but Christ. This is my prayer today, I pray that it would be your's as well.