Pictured above is the Point Reyes Lighthouse in California. It has been the inspiration for one of my previous devotions titled, The Perfect Retirement. A recent event involving this iconic lighthouse has once again inspired and prompted me to use it for yet another devotion.
This past October, a project to restore the Point Reyes National Seashore along with the lighthouse led a crew of construction workers to find an unexpected time capsule within the walls of this century-old beacon. They uncovered a wooden box with the names of a lighthouse keeper, his assistant, and the date of August 1929 inscribed on it. The box contains a stack of newspapers from that same year. The National Park Service official and the journalists who have been allowed to examine the copies are excited to behold such well-preserved pieces of history. They are fascinated by the articles that made headlines almost 90 years ago! The restoration project is set to continue throughout early next year. Needless to say, they are keeping their eyes open for any other historical treasures that may be hidden within the tower’s walls.
God is the only One who can look right into our very hearts and know the true motive behind our words and actions, but what if people could actually do the same? What would unbelievers find within the walls (true intentions) of our proclaimed Christian faith? Would they be excited, fascinated, or encouraged by what they discover? Would they find that the root of our spiritual lifestyle is a pure and genuine desire to honor God and selflessly help others? Or would they find that it is based on just emotions, a cultural ritual, arrogance, and/or selfish gain?
As lighthouses for God, we are not only shining the light of Christ in a spiritually dark world but we are also impacting the lives of those we interact with daily, occasionally, and even just once in our lifetime. Like a newspaper, our testimony is made up of good stories; stories that tell of our personal successes, charitable works, and service in God’s kingdom. But it also includes the not so good stories of our challenges, sufferings, failures, and how we respond to them. Yet, in order for those stories to be of any significant value, they must stem from a genuine altruistic heart and, above all else, they must end with a declaration of God’s faithfulness all the while giving Him the glory.
It’s definitely important to be spiritually and emotionally strong and confident when sharing the light of Christ with others. But equally important is that whatever we say and do is motivated by pure and unselfish desires. This way, we will not only be more effective in our witnessing but the words and deeds that are stored within the walls of our faith will be gratefully cherished by others and hopefully impact their lives unto eternity.
What if a family member, friend, acquaintance, or a stranger we witnessed to at the doctor’s office was to look behind the walls of our outward faith, would they find something worth admiring? Would they find genuineness, faithfulness, selflessness, and true sacrificial love? If not, what would they find?
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for the strength you give me day by day to stand firm in my faith. May my daily interactions stem from a genuine heart desire to please and honor you. Help me to build lasting memories that will testify of your great mercy and love so that when others see my faith in action they would see and glorify you. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.
Lighthouse Devotions 
This is a really good post for further thought… what would others see if they could peer behind the walls we have erected? Would we change if those things were out in the open? If we would be embarrassed, ashamed, etc, then it’s time to allow God to do His work to alter those things that are not in keeping with a life of faith… b/c the truth is that we are not really hiding anything from Him! …”Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Heb. 4:13) Thanks Joe!!
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Another great read, my friend. Love the two Bible verses you quoted in your devotion, and then after rereading, noticed a recurrent theme: ‘to do’. Our selfish ambition, our conceit, originate from our thinking; our thought life. Oh, and to even imagine a Christian’s ‘thought life’ being placed in a “time capsule”…that will one day be opened and exposed…”Oh, my!”
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Thank you, brother. And yes, just to think that we will have to give an account for everything we have done both in action and in words and thoughts (2 Corinthians 5:10) should challenge us even more to “…not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…”
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