A Small Light Can Dispel Great Darkness
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin ArticlesIn Daniel 1:3, we read of Ashpenaz, a high court official in ancient Babylon, who was committed to banishing any testimony of Israel’s God from his kingdom. His strategy focused on young leadership from the captive Hebrews (Daniel 1:6). Ashpenaz gave the captives new names to honor the pagan gods of Babylon (Daniel 1:7). This made sense to him, because their original Hebrew names honored their God.
But the committed choice of those captives were a far more powerful influence than any label put on them. When faced with a literal trial by fire, these young men would not bow down and worship the golden idol. Instead, they accepted the punishment of being cast into the fiery furnace — confident in God’s sovereignty and care (Daniel 3:16-18).
We have all known non-Christians who try to pressure us to fit in with their lifestyle. If we don’t party with them, follow a questionable business practice, or laugh at an offensive joke — what usually happens? We get the cold shoulder. People may even call us names because we have determined not to run with their crowd (Exodus 23:2; cf. 2 Corinthians 6:14). But when we’re rejected because of our loyalty to God, we can live in a way that honors the Father (2 Timothy 4:7; cf. Hebrews 12:1-2).
It doesn’t matter what names others may call us. However, “how” we live our lives before God does (cf. Genesis 5:24; Hebrews 11:5; Genesis 6:9) . What’s important is that we always let our light shine (Matthew 5:16), always remembering that a small light can dispel great darkness (Matthew 5:15; Luke 8:16; cf. 1 Peter 2:9).