Fireflies

Men come and go; leaders, teachers, thinkers speak and work for a season, and then fall silent and impotent. He abides. They die, but He lives. They are lights kindled, and, therefore, sooner or later quenched; but He is the true light from which they draw all their brightness, and He shines for evermore. Alexander MacLaren

I worked in my yard yesterday and cleaned our patio so that we could sit outside and enjoy the cool evening.  As we were watching various birds fly around our back yard I thought about my childhood.

When I was young we lived the country and there was always things going on outside.  One of my favorite things was to catch fireflies.  They fascinated me.  You would see them come out at dusk and their lights would blink on and off.  It always amazed me that this tiny beetle could produce light. 

You guessed it.  I looked up how they produce light.  They take in oxygen and a special cell in their body mixes the oxygen with a chemical in their body called luciferin.  This produces the light they give off with almost no heat.   The flashing patterns are unique to each species.  Sometimes they use the light to attract a mate and other times they use it as a defense mechanism to warn off prey.  I am not sure how scientists figured out this part, but fireflies don’t taste good so other prey normally don’t eat them.  Scientists believe that some fireflies never eat.  Maybe that is because they have such a short life span. 

We are called to be a light to a fallen world.  Just as the firefly gives off light, we are to give off continuous light.  We can be just like the firefly too, in that we sometimes give off intermittent light.  When we sin our light goes out.  When we live in truth our light shines. Our life span on this earth is extremely short.  How will you show others God’s light?

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, there are times in my life when my light has been snuffed out.  I didn’t reflect Your light and others suffered for it.  When I live in truth I move into the light and that light is a reflection of You.  I pray that you will make my light burn brightly for You. 

Scripture: For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.  But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."  John 3:20-21