by Desiree Bustamante

Let Christ’s light that lives in you shine in all the dark corners of the world.

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These railroad lanterns were once used each night to send messages to workers down the tracks. A clear lantern was used by the brakeman to signal to a train that a passenger wanted to board. The red lantern was a signal to stop a train or hung on the end of a caboose as a marker. Blue lanterns marked boxcars or locomotives that were being repaired. The signal green lantern meant proceed with caution. A yellow lantern indicated that the switches were aligned properly. Yellow also was used to mark the railroad cars that track repair men lived in when far from home.

These lights shone brightly to convey specific messages.

“For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!”
Ephesians 5:8 New Living Translation

Christ is the only pure light that can illuminate through all darkness. He gives us His light and asks us to shine, radiating His message of love, forgiveness and justice upon His return.

If Christ lives in us, so does His light. We all have different ways to shine, but we all shine the same light into the world to banish the darkness and reveal the truth that Jesus Christ is the only hope for a dark world of sin and death.

We also shine His light for each other in Christ as an encouragement, so that no believer’s flame may fade or be extinguished in the darkness of the world.

“For God, who said, ‘Let there be light in the darkness,’ has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.”
2 Corinthians 4:6 New Living Translation

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado