Shine - Part 2 

In my previous blog post I wrote about that very catchy song we’ve been learning in church: Shine! If you’d just got it out of your head, sorry to put it straight back in there again today!
 
Do you feel shiny?  Or do you feel like a torch whose battery is fading, or a mirror whose glass has become tarnished? Sometimes I might feel a bit Jesus-shiny, but often I feel like a mirror who has picked up dust and scratches, and like a torch whose battery is running out of charge! If this is you too, then I have good news for you.
 
Firstly, in 2 Corinthians 4:7 it says “We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.” Even when we don’t feel shiny, in our weariness and brokenness, Jesus shines out.
 
But not only does Jesus shine out through us as we are, He also cares deeply for His shining children.
 
In Zechariah 13:9, the prophet talks about God being like a refiner’s fire. “I will bring that group through the fire and make them pure. I will refine them like silver and purify them like gold.” God is at work in us too, making us shinier, helping us turn from sin. And He’s also tending to our wounds, softening the scratches and damage. So today, let’s pray for a little TLC from our loving light of the world.
 
Prayer - Lord God, fill me anew today with your Holy Spirit. Tend to the wounds of hurt that cling to me, and burn away the sin so that I can shine (from the inside out, that the world will see You live in me). Amen.
 
Photo by Josh Boot on Unsplash