Light It Up!

I once heard a businessman say one of the saddest statements I have ever heard in my life. He said, “Ever since I started this business I have not had the time to go to church.”

That’s just so sad. Tells you know where and what his priorities are. Maybe this is the very reason why Jesus Christ said, “It is easier for a camel to enter the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven…..”

Make sure you go to church. So much have changed; consider this.

During the long vacation, a family left the city and stayed with their relatives in a distant place. Sunday morning, the father decided that the family should attend church. Driving past a church in a small town and pointing to it, the father told the children that it was St. Joseph’s Church.

“It must be a franchise,” her eight-year-old son said. “We’ve got one of those in our town too.”

Isn’t it sad when children begin to think this way?

From an unknown author comes this very provoking article entitled “How Will The Church Be Lighted?”

Several centuries ago in a mountain village in Europe, a wealthy nobleman wondered what legacy he should leave to his townspeople. He made a good decision. He decided to build them a church. No one was permitted to see the plans or the inside of the church until it was finished.

At its grand opening, the people gathered and marvelled at the beauty of the new church. Everything had been thought of and included. It was a masterpiece. But then someone said, “Wait a minute! Where are the lamps? It is really quite dark in here. How will the church be lighted?” The nobleman pointed to some brackets in the walls, and then he gave each family a lamp, which they were to bring with them each time they came to worship.

“Each time you are here,” the nobleman said, “The place where you are seated will be lighted. Each time you are not here, that place will be dark. This is to remind you that whenever you fail to come to church, some part of God’s house will be dark.

That’s a poignant story, isn’t it?

What if every member of the church supported the church? What kind of church would you have? What if every single member served the church, attended the church, loved the church, shared the church, and gave to the church exactly as you do? What kind of church would you be?

Many churches today especially the ones in the western hemisphere of our globe have lost their light. Some are sold and are now converted to museums, while others have been converted into bars and pubs. Only the old and the dying go there. The light is diminishing.

Many churches have lost their calling. Rather than bringing the lost to the Savior they are too preoccupied with their own programs, exalting themselves rather than the Risen Savior.

Many churches today no longer have light. No compassion for souls and no burden to bring the Lost to the Savior. And when churches lose their sense of mission, the whole society is plunged into darkness. Spirituality becomes a game people play. The Bible is mocked by the lifestyles of its religious leaders. Salt loses its taste and light turns into darkness.

A lot of people want to serve God, but only in an advisory capacity. Somebody says: “Sunday is the day many of us bow our heads. Some of us are praying and some of us are putting.”

Go to church. Bring your children with you. What blesses my heart is when I go to church and I see familiar faces of very successful business people and professionals who are deeply committed to their faith.

One businessman told me, “Francis, this is the time I go to church. I do this twice. Christmas and Easter Sunday.” The day Christ is born and the day Christ rose from the dead?

Be careful. This one may be funny but it carries a ring of truth to it. Somebody says: “I wish you folks would come to church, If only for a visit. For someday they will carry you in, and the Lord will say, “Who is it?”

— By Francis J. Kong

Meditation: Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth? – Luke 18:8

You will succeed in Jesus Name!