Not going to lie, this one has had me stumped and pondering. Why? Look at the text:

“No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light.  For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light.  

The first part? Makes sense. No problem. The purpose of light is for the blessing of all.

But the second part? Things hidden and secret? It sounds like sin. Or something that someone would want to hide. That’s what throws me off.

Contextually though it is about light. And hiding light.

Why, though, would anyone want to hide light? Because light is such a blessing?

The reason is that light is made for the darkness, not the light.

I don’t need to light a candle on a bright, sunny day or in a well-lit room. I need light for when it is dark.

It is dark now.

The problem with darkness is it doesn’t like light. People love the dark as evil can be done in the dark. Light impedes that. No wonder people want to hide their light. And then there’s this:

Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.”

How does this apply to the text? About light?

It honestly makes me think of Uriah. Not the Uriah that David killed in his attempt to try to hide his sin. But the Uriah of Jeremiah’s time (Jeremiah 26).

Jeremiah was a prophet called to preach the truth of God with an unfavorable message in a very dark time. It was dangerous and multiple times they were almost successful in killing Jeremiah. But Jeremiah stood firm.

Uriah was another prophet at the time. He, too, prophesied against the evil and wickedness of the time. But when the threats came, instead of standing firm, he fled.

The king then hunted him down and killed him. Yet Jeremiah was spared.

There is a time to flee from persecution as we clearly read in the New Testament. And also there’s a time to stand. But the Lord, for Jeremiah at least, had said this was the time for the prophets to stand (Jer 1).

Jeremiah stood strong, and was spared.
Uriah fled the scene, and was killed.

Both were called to be lights. Jeremiah was that light, and God blessed him even more.

Uriah also was called to be a light and had that light. But he fled and even what he had was taken away.

As Christians, we are the light of the world. We carry light. It’s pointless to hide it because even if we did, it would be exposed and found out.

The difference is those that light their light shine will be given even more. Not that we won’t be spared from death. There are many martyrs. But that somehow the Lord will had fuel to our fire.

But for those who hide their light, even what they have will be taken away. That’s disturbing. It would be hard to think you had the light for those in darkness but you didn’t use it, you hid it, and it was removed.

It’s like being locked in prison and hiding the fact to your cell mates or others that you actually have the key.

We are entering darker and darker times. The world is going crazy.

We have the light. Yes, it will become more and more dangerous to shine that light. But we must. We cannot let others stumble to their death in darkness when it could have been prevented simply by allowing our light to shine.

Even if it cost us our lives.