What’s Your Lampstand?
“Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket;
It is set on a Lampstand”
For many of us, we’ve accepted and agreed that we need to be a light. We’ve grown comfortable with this idea, and - on a good day - we’re even excited to do it. In the everyday environments of our lives (work, school, family, church, etc…), we’ve come to expect this responsibility and do our best to be a light for Christ. But we give ourselves to so many areas and to so many things that it can be hard to really f o c u s.
Most faithful Christians have no problems with breadth. Breadth: spread wide, but thin. Most of us are - spread wide, but thin. Sure, our schedules are full of good things, but do we really plan our lives?
Do we prioritize the areas of our lives that we’re called to pursue more deeply?
Or do we say yes to anything that is a “good thing”, sounds fun, and is free on our calendar? Maybe it’s time to make a change. We’re called to be people of depth, to make choices based on calling and mission - based on our Lampstand. I’d like to propose a new definition to you:
Lampstand: a specific mission we’re meant to prioritize.
Perhaps we each have a Lampstand - a special, specific area of our lives where we’re meant to be more, where we’re set apart, where we’re meant to shine. I believe this for you - that there’s a particular way that you’re meant to be more, you’re meant to be set apart, and you’re meant to shine brighter. So I ask again -
What is your Lampstand?
Where are you called to truly shine? To give the unique gift that only you can give? Where are you called to give your very best? To lay your life down? What areas require you to sacrifice? To say “no” to really good things so that you can give your very best to a particular call? What activities and/or areas of your life deserve more attention? What are the areas of your life that make you feel more alive? What makes you come…
A L I V E
That’s where you need to give. You see, God loves the whole person - the way you think, the desires you have, and how you love other people. He wants partners for His Kingdom. Paul refers to us a “co-workers” or “fellow laborers” with God in 1 Cor 3:9. It would only make sense that your Lampstand would include a mission you love. So, what mission field lights you up? Who are the people you’re called to love more deeply?
Maybe you’re called to volunteer for a leadership role with a ministry. Maybe you need to give more of your time to the homeless. Maybe you’re passionate about the pro-life movement and need to press into that. Maybe you’re convicted about politics and need to bring Jesus to your local party? Maybe you feel called to revitalize the children’s ministry at your parish. Maybe you really love your job and want to start a Bible study with your coworkers.
The point is: you don't have to do it all. You're not meant to do it all.
The point is to find your LAMPSTAND and BUILD YOUR LIFE around it.
Because it doesn’t matter what your Lampstand is - it matters that you
GET UP THERE &
S H I N E !
