The Light of the World
By M.T. Clark — P-2093 | 10/13/2026 – Today’s Audio Podcast
Today’s Message on YouTube:
Today’s photo of the sunrise over a shadowed horizon of hills, with soft pink and orange streaks across the morning sky, comes to us from yours truly, as I captured this view just off Waite Road in Easton, NY, on October 9, 2023.
Well, it’s Tuesday, and I share this photo to remind us that the Lord is faithful in bringing us new mornings and new mercies with them each day. Every day of our lives, before we have done anything to earn it, God raises the sun over the hills again. His light shows up before we even wake up to notice it. When we open our eyes, the whole landscape that was dark the night before is bathed in color we did nothing to make. The blessings of His creation, and His mercies, are new every morning.
Last week at Celebrate Freedom, I shared about how when you suffer a loss or make a huge mistake, you get to wake up with the trauma of that loss or failure each new day. You wake up, and almost immediately you are reminded that the loss is still there or the consequences of your failure are still playing out. The harsh reality that you messed up or have suffered a major loss is right there with you to start your day. And that is why our faith, our relationship with God, is so very important. On our own, we have a natural tendency to see the negative things in life, and when we lose something or make a life-altering mistake, there are plenty of negative things to focus on. But when we have a relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ, we can receive God’s mercy each morning and focus on the good of what God has done and on who we are in Christ instead. Instead of sitting in the trauma, we can focus on the hope of a new day and make a decision to rise above the losses and failures instead of being defeated by them. Because of God’s great love and new mercies, we can focus on the light instead of the darkness and receive His love, peace, and joy. Speaking of the light of God’s love,
Our series, “The Beatitudes,” continues today with the second identity statement Jesus makes about His people in the Sermon on the Mount. The first was salt. Today is light.
The Light of the World
Jesus goes right from salt to light without a pause. In Matthew 5:14-16 (NKJV), Jesus tells us:
“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Just like yesterday with salt, Jesus starts with the verb that settles the question of who we are before He makes any demand on us. “You ARE the light of the world.” He is not saying we might become it, or that we need to work our way up to it. The identity is already ours. The teaching that follows is about what to do with what we already are.
Before this verse can make real sense, we have to settle where our light comes from. Scripture is clear in another place that Jesus Himself is the Light. In John 8:12 (NKJV), Jesus says: “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” Both statements are true at the same time. Matthew 5 tells us we are the light, and John 8 tells us Jesus is the Light. The order between them matters.
Jesus is the Light, the way the sun is the source. We are the light the way the moon is a reflection. The moon is called the lesser light in Genesis 1, and the only reason it has any light at all is that it catches the sun’s light and sends it on into the night. When we are turned toward Jesus, we shine with His light. When we turn away from Him, we go dark. The light we have is real, and the light we have is His.
Jesus gives us two short pictures of what light is for. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. A lamp is not lit and then stuffed under a basket. Both of these pictures tell us the same thing. Light is for being seen. Hiding it defeats the whole point. If we try to live for Jesus privately, where no one will notice, we have not understood what the Light is doing in us.
Then Jesus names the purpose of the shining. He says, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Notice who gets the glory. It is not us. It is the Father. The good works are visible on purpose, but the point of making them visible is not that people will praise us. The point is that people will see the works and praise God.
This is the exact place where we have to be careful when we start walking with God. People can do good things for the wrong reasons. Pride or wanting to be accepted by others can cause us to do good works for our own reputations or benefit more than for the Father’s glory. We may want people to see us and to think well of us. When we do good works with that motivation, the light of our actions points back to us, rather than up to the Father.
So how do we actually shine our light for the Father?
We let Him put us on the lampstand He has chosen for us. For some of us, that lampstand is our jobs, where people watch how we handle a hard day. For others it is our family, where the next generation is watching whether our faith holds up when the going gets tough. For others still, it is a small group where God will use our words to be a lamp. In each case, the shining is not something we have to manufacture. The light is God’s. Our job is to reflect it. Our purpose is to be where the Lord leads us and to let His light shine through our attitudes, words, and actions to share His love and to give Him glory.
Every step towards the Lord is a step in the right direction. So, keep on walking and talking with God.
— M.T.
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“The views, opinions, and commentary of this publication are those of the author, M.T. Clark, only, and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of any of the photographers, artists, ministries, or other authors of the other works that may be included in this publication, and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities the author may represent.”
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