Punching Holes In The Darkness - Robert Louis Stevenson wrote Treasure Island and many other books. He must have had a way with words from the time he was a boy. One night his nanny couldn't get him to bed. Young Robert just kept staring out the window. Finally, she said, "Robert, what in the world are you looking at out there?" As she pulled back the curtain, she realized he was watching the lamplighter making his way down the street, lighting one street lamp after another. Young Robert saw something more than the Nanny. He said, "Look at that man! He's punching holes in the darkness!"

What an awesome description of the reason God has placed you where you are! Matthew 5:14-16, says "You are the light of the world." "A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp or put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its' stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." You're not here to bemoan how dark the world is. How desolate it is where you work or school.

You're here to punch holes in the darkness! So, how are you doing so far? Yeah, we live in a pretty dark world. But it is not a world without light unless you fail shine for Jesus. So many of Jesus' followers forget or don't realize who they really are. You are His personal representative in this world. You punch another hole in the darkness every time you come to your job with joy instead of gloom and doom, with good things to say instead of griping, every time you stop for someone who's struggling, when you consciously put someone else ahead of you, when you insist on taking the high road when it's tempting to cut corners. Every morning tell the Lord and tell yourself, "I am the light of my world." And go out there, showing a harsh, lonely and self-serving world that there is another way. Defy the darkness wherever you go. Punch holes in the darkness with the brilliant light of Jesus Christ!