Above my awkward split-level foyer hangs a garish chandelier.
(Prounounced FOI-YAY just to put on airs.)
It’s not my favorite feature of the home,
yet one I’ve never justified changing.
I’ve looked at others, but balk at the price and the look.
If I’m gunna’ spend money on something that doesn’t
NEED to be replaced, I have to love it.
After reading a gajillion blogs where women transform
anything left on the curb or in a garbage can with spray paint
and then are featured in home magazines, I’ve considered that option.
But, I’d have to find the ladder.
I’d have to find the tools.
I’d have to find someone to take it down
and rehang it after I drip spray paint all over it.
The word FIND isn’t my favorite word.
If you’ve read my blog even a few times,
you know I always have a hard time FINDING
things I need, like tape, my hairbrush and scissors.
So it maintains residence,
hanging above all who enter my home
like an electronic co-joined octopus.
When the chandelier above the dining room table needs new bulbs,
we take them from here.
Burned out ones are rarely replaced
because I don’t want too much light
to draw too much attention
to the ugly monster above.
Even in this neglected form,
it still does its job.
It still lights the path.
It still keeps us from falling.
It guides us through the dark.
It is still a source of LIGHT.
Proverbs 4:18
But the path of the just is like the shining sun,
That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.
I love the Lord’s view on us. He looks downward from Heaven and sees our lives as that shining light in the midst of the darkness. He describes His followers as though we are brilliant search lamps, or lighthouses with far-reaching beams of life-saving light.
Most days I feel more like a burned out lightbulb than a shining light. My spirits may be down, I may be frustrated that I have fallen in an area that I should have conquered in my youth. In other words, I yelled at my kids – AGAIN. But, remember there is a difference between a believer’s POSITION and their PRACTICE.
In POSITION, believers are washed in the blood, forgiven, and accepted in the beloved. We are that shining light, clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
In PRACTICE, believers are likely to fall, forget their source of power and become dim in their faith. But that light is never removed, we just need to keep changing the lightbulb with repentance.
The light of Jesus shines more and more as we grow in faith, in knowledge of the Lord through His Word. We keep the wicks trimmed and the lamps clean, and the brilliant light is able to light the path, keep us from falling, guide us through the dark. We always have a source of LIGHT and we always are a LIGHT to the world.
Matthew 5:16
Let your light so shine before men,
that they may see your good works
and glorify your Father in heaven.
Do you feel more like a
Shining Light or a
Burned-Out Lightbulb?
LOL on your ‘loan to buy new light bulbs!!’ I enjoyed this post. What a great metaphor!! We end up with burned out light bulbs here and there because my husband thinks I have bought light bulbs, and I knew he did (when he didn’t) and so we end up not having the right kind!! The groceries would (and have) crushed the light bulbs and I am focusing on buying food when I am out…and who has the money these days for a light bulb!!
I feel like a burned out light bulb because I yearn to witness to neighbors but don’t often get the chance.
Thanks….still think it would be cuter black……maybe this summer after I take out a loan to buy new light bulbs….
I love the analogy. Yes, most days I feel like a burned out bulb. I’m happy to hear I’m not the only one. I’m striving to be the light, and as we know, the light of Jesus can’t be faked.
By the way, I think your chandelier is cute!