Preserving my Light

I work in the middle of the night, and one of my most important tools is my trusty heavy-duty flashlight. I can't work without it, because one of the most critical things I do is inspect a coupling to make sure that it is secure. If the coupling fails, it could result in serious injury or death, not to me, but to innocent people. Yes, that is not an exaggeration, it is that important. I truly rely on that flashlight.

A few months ago my flashlight failed in the middle of my inspection, before I got to that coupling. No warning, just light one second, dark the next. Fortunately, I always keep plenty of spare batteries on hand, so it was a simple battery exchange...or so I thought. When I opened the flashlight, I found that one of the batteries had exploded, coating the whole inside with a creosote-like sticky mess. My trusty flashlight was ruined! What happened?!

I learned the answer later that day, when I was at the store replacing the flashlight. (By the way, I was able to borrow another light so I could finish my inspections.) This warning notice was on the battery package: "Do not mix alkaline and solid-cell batteries together, as premature failure or leakage may result". Hmm...there were two solid cell batteries and one alkaline in my flashlight. One exploded, and thus, the leakage that ruined my light.

This incident made me think about how easy it is for Christians to put out their spiritual light. We are walking hand-in-hand with the Lord, witnessing and proclaiming His Word, and then before we know it we are far from the Lord; not interested in His Word or delighting in His presence. We would rather use our time following worldly pursuits than in striving after the Father and seeking His righteousness and His kingdom. We mix our walk with worldly pursuits, like I mixed those alkaline and solid-cell batteries, with the same result. I'm speaking from experience here.

How do we get ourselves into this position? I'm sure no one that goes through this chose to grow apart from the Lord. I found my answer in God's word: "Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with a worthless person, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?" (2 Corinthians 6:14-15).

I believe that this Scripture applies to all relationships. That relationship could be with people, politics, sports, the internet, movies, music, magazines, news, whatever. In my case, the relationship specifically was with the television shows that I chose to enjoy.

I work hard, and at the end of the day I just want to "veg out" and relax.  I know that's OK as long as I don't let myself get lazy. The problem was that I was vegging in front of the television, without knowing or caring about what exactly I was allowing to flow into my brain. I'm sure that I'm not breaking any new ground when I say there's not much good, wholesome, uplifting, praiseworthy, holy programming on television, especially in the mid-afternoon. I was associating with unbelievers by sampling their wares, and the more I allowed their garbage into my brain, the more I had in common with them and the less I wanted to strive after the Lord.

When I reached this conclusion, I prayed that the Lord forgive me for replacing Him with the television and other worldly pursuits, and in His mercy He gently rebuked me. The Almighty caused me to recall another Scripture: "For where your treasure is, there your heart be also " (Luke 12:34). I realized that yes, my treasure was in my entertainment, and not in my Lord. I also realized that treasure does not necessarily mean wealth, but is anything that we think is important.

Father, please forgive me for putting the ways of the world ahead of Your way. Please forgive me for giving more importance to worldly pursuits that I give to You. Thank you for Your gentle correction and rebuke, and thank you for Your mercy in allowing me to see this and learn from this experience. Please keep Your light shining through me, and please help me to always strive after You. May I always praise Your name. In Jesus' strong name, I pray. Amen.