If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14

My wife and I have dimmable light bulbs in our living room. They can be set anywhere from 1% brightness to 100% brightness. I was sitting in our back room one day and began to think about how similar these light bulbs are to our “light bulbs” in our daily Christian lives. When we get saved, God puts a “light bulb” inside of us. He gives us a testimony that we can share with others. He teaches us to strive to live our lives for Him, because He gave it all for us. As humans, we all will sin. Sin acts as a dimmer for our light bulbs. There aren’t big or little sins, but the longer that we stay in sin, the dimmer our “light bulb” gets. When we go out into the world and sin, our influence on others becomes weaker. Sin makes our “light bulbs” dirty and dimmer. If I were to dim the lights in our living room to 99%, my wife may never notice. We might sometimes think “Well, I can get away with just a little sin”, but that’s not true. We can’t hide anything from God. He gave us that “light bulb,” and He knows what condition our dimmer is in.

I recently asked someone how hard it would be to run electricity to the barn on our property. They said it wouldn’t be difficult, and then started telling me what I’d need to do. It’s not difficult to get saved and serve the Lord. If we look at ourselves as “light bulbs,” He is the source of our “electricity.” In other words, He gives us the strength, ability, and knowledge to serve Him. Jesus teaches in Matthew chapter 5 that we are the light of the world. It’s our job to witness to others and live our lives in a way that others might see Jesus in us. If you ever find your “light bulb” a little dusty, or your dimmer set below 100%, remember that all we have to do is ask God for forgiveness. He will help us get back to where we need to be in order to do His will.