Super Moon

      During this past week those of us living in the southeastern portion of North America have had the opportunity to view what has been labeled by the scientific community as a "super moon". Full moons tend to keep me awake at night as it is, but boy this super moon stuff really lit up the night! Marvelous to look at if you had the opportunity and took the time to really take advantage of this "super" bright sphere almost shouting out "Hey here I am, look at me!" The moon's story is a funny one to explain to younger kids and sometimes it's even hard for me to grasp the concept of what makes the moon shine so brightly in the first place.
     You see the moon is nothing more than a dead, lifeless rock hanging in an orbit around our planet. Lifeless, meaning no energy, no source of life, equaling no power to create the light that it shines so brightly. (Tell that to a five year old and see how far you get with that one.) We know that the moon's light is a direct reflection of how much light it receives from the sun and depending on it's position in relation to the sun we may see a quarter moon, half moon, new moon, full moon or in the case as it was this past week it might even be a super moon. The "Super Moon" phenomenon is the rare occurrence when the moon is closer to the sun in distance than any other normal full moon instance, coupled with the perfect alignment of the two spheres in our region of the world thus creating the super bright effect on what we saw in the night sky a few days ago. The brightness of the Super Moon was eye-catching at least and spectacularly illuminating at best.
       Funny how nature provides visual models of how God intends us to live our life out for Him. The whole concept of shining the light, being a reflection of His light, and providing light where there is none is talked about by Paul in Ephesians 5:8-13 "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth)  and find out what pleases the Lord.  Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.  It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light." We must realize that we are His light to this world. Paul explains it clearly I believe. Before you made the decision to follow Christ you were in the dark, but now you are His light to the world. The question is are you reflecting His light? 
     Each day, each of us has an opportunity to shine His light to the world we live in, and to illuminate the life of the people we meet along our life's journey. But how will they see that light if we aren't displaying it? What is different about your life that allows others to see your illumination. We can go to church on Sunday, we can give our tithes in the offering plate, read our Bible, say our prayers, and a whole list of "things" we can do, but the question still lingers, "How will someone see His light reflecting off of your life?" There has to be something different about your life, something that doesn't look like what the world portrays as the accepted norm. I'm not suggesting that you have to stand on a street corner carrying a "believe or burn" sign, all I'm saying is if your life isn't distinctly different how can it reflect the light that God has intended for you to share? 
     Going back to the scripture in Ephesians Paul shares that the fruits of our light are grounded in goodness, righteousness, and truth. Those are great starting points for you to be a reflection of God's light. Do the right thing when presented with a choice. Choose to live life as Christ did helping others that are in need, giving more than you are receiving, and never judging a person by their mistakes or by their status in life. Forgive because you were forgiven and love because He first loved you. As our time together today comes to an end, let me suggest a song for you to listen to that shares this message in music. Micah Tyler's song "Different" resonates well for all of us that want to be a shining light for our Lord and Savior. Look it up,  listen to the words, and then apply the message to your own life. If you feel that your life hasn't been a light then my prayer for you today is that you will make the personal decision to become a true reflection of the light that He wants to reflect through you. For those in our audience that have made that decision already, be a "Super Moon" shine bright and light up your world and the world of those that you live with, work with, and love.
Have an amazing week, mine has already begun! Thank you for sharing in it with me! 
Coach Carter