One day Jesus was heading toward Jerusalem when He was met by ten lepers (Luke 17:11-12).  As one might expect, these ten men were desperate for help so they begged Jesus to have mercy on them.  Jesus had compassion and healed them (ver.14), but sadly only one of them turned back to Him and gave Him thanks (vers. 15-19).

After Jesus healed these men, He told them to go show themselves to the priests.  This was so they could verify that they had been cleansed and were now fit for re-entrance into society.  Today Jesus tells us to show ourselves too, not to priests, but to the world.  This is also for verification.  We need to show others that we are Christians by the lives that we live.

Matthew 5:14-16 (ESV)
¹⁴  “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵  Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶  In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.  

True Christians cannot be hidden.  The world is a place of spiritual and moral darkness.  Thankfully, we have been rescued from that darkness.  Peter said that we have been called out of the darkness and into the marvelous light of our Lord (1 Peter 2:9).   The light of our Lord has shined upon us in such an overwhelming fashion that we have become light (John 12:36; 1 Thessalonians 5:5).  Now we must allow the light of our Lord to shine through us.

Our solar system is so arranged that all our planets revolve around the sun. From that marvelous mass of burning matter, other planets receive and reflect light. So then, the earth not only receives light directly from the sun, but it also receives light from the moon and other stars reflectively. That’s the nature of light—it bounces off one object and reflects upon another.

If we are Christians, we are the light of the world.  The light of Christ bounces off us and reflects upon those with whom we come into contact.  Our light does not shine automatically, we must allow it to happen.  Jesus said, “…let your let shine before men.”  Why did Jesus have to exhort us to let our light shine?  It was because He knew that there would be a tendency among kingdom citizens to hide their Christianity.  We must never do that. Jesus said that people do not light a lamp just to put it under a basket (ver. 15). That would be silly, just like it is silly for us to try to conceal the light of Christ from the world.

We must show ourselves to the world.  We do this first by living according to the gospel of Christ.  This will be reflected in our daily lives.  How we behave in this world—what we do and do not do—will be noticed.  Then we must show ourselves to the world by preaching the saving message of the gospel when the opportunity presents itself.  Living a godly life, and being willing to tell others about Jesus and all that He has done is the way to shine in the world.

The only thing that can stop us from properly showing ourselves to the world is us.  If we are ashamed of Jesus and His Word; if we are too embarrassed by the standard of living set forth in the gospel, our Christianity will never be verified.  But can we call ourselves Christians if we are ashamed of Jesus or His message?  Remember, Jesus said, “…whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:33).

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.