Thought for the Week - 6/6/2021

Dear Friends, 

Last week in the Operation World Prayer Calendar we were praying for the small West African country of The Gambia. It was good to hear that Christians have more religious freedom there than in most Muslim countries and that mostly friendly relationships exist between Muslims and Christians. There are a number of ethnic groups living side by side in The Gambia one of which is the Serahule tribe which makes up around 9% of the population. In a section in the prayer diary focusing on unreached peoples it stated, ‘there are probably fewer than 10 known Christians among the 180,000 Serahule of Gambia’. I had to sit for a moment to let that fact sink in. That is the equivalent to the New Forest district in Hampshire or the county of Hereford having only 10 Christians among their populations. And as I was reflecting on this and praying, I was reminded of Jesus’ words from the Sermon on the Mount, ‘You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden’ (Matthew 5:14). Just imagine being one of the only ten Christians in your district or town, in your street or workplace, in your house or family, what does God require of you? The point of what Jesus says is that you cannot hide a city that is sitting on top of a hill. Its light can be seen for miles around. Likewise, if we live for Christ, we will glow like lights showing others what Jesus is like by our words and actions. But if we hide the light of Christ within us, we are quiet when we should speak, we go along with the crowd rather than standing up and standing out for Jesus, we deny the light of Jesus in our lives, we let sin overwhelm and overtake our light meaning the light of Christ in our lives is dim, we fail to explain why the light of Christ lives in us, and we ignore the needs of others and focus on our own self-interests and selfish desires. But Jesus says, ‘You are the light of the world’, meaning we are beacons of hope and truth in a dark and sinful world. Jesus concludes that just like a city on a hill, ‘in the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16).

Grace and peace,

Neil

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