Shine

So I was thinking last night about how much I really want to shine for Jesus. There's this passage in Philippians 2: "Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe..." I've always wanted to do that but never knew how.

Then I started thinking about the movie "Stardust", and how this girl, who's really a star, shines brightly and destroys the witch that wants to kill her (corny, but bear with me). As I thought about it I tried to find a way to use the movie as an example of shining, and it hit me.

Yvaine, the star, falls from the sky and meets a man named Tristan. He agrees to help her return to the sky if she will first go with him so he can show her to Victoria, the woman he loves. After a series of events they fall in love. Then Yvaine is kidnapped by a witch who wants to eat her heart because a star's heart can restore youth. Tristan goes to rescue her and after awhile there's the typical scene of the two lovers side by side about to be killed by the witch. Yvaine starts to wrap her arms around Tristan and tells him to close his eyes. When her arms touch his body, she is so happy to be with him that she shines blindingly and kills the witch. Afterwards, Tristan asks her why she didn't do it before, and she says, "I couldn't do it without you. I needed you with me." Then Tristan finds out that he's the only living heir to the throne of their country. He and Yvaine marry and become king and queen. (And they all live happily ever after.)

But do you see the parallels? Yvaine wants to shine, but she can't do it without the love of Tristan, a prince. I want to shine, but I can't do it without Christ, who loved me before anyone else. Sometimes I feel like I try to shine for God without ever saying, "God, shine through me." I try to do it on my own. But it doesn't really work, does it? We can't shine unless the Holy Spirit is in us.

There's this song called "Shine, Jesus, Shine". Here's the chorus:

Shine, Jesus, shine
Fill this land with the Father's glory
Blaze, Spirit, blaze,
Set our hearts on fire
Flow, River, flow
Flood the nations with grace and mercy
Send forth your Word
Lord, and let there be light

Jesus has to shine for us to shine. If He's living in us, I like to think that we're always glowing a little.

My friend Elizabeth read these verses from Isaiah 60:

1 "Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.

2 See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the LORD rises upon you
and his glory appears over you.

3 Nations will come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

4 "Lift up your eyes and look about you:
All assemble and come to you;
your sons come from afar,
and your daughters are carried on the arm.

5 Then you will look and be radiant,
your heart will throb and swell with joy;
the wealth on the seas will be brought to you,
to you the riches of the nations will come.

19 The sun will no more be your light by day,
nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you,
for the LORD will be your everlasting light,
and your God will be your glory.

20 Your sun will never set again,
and your moon will wane no more;
the LORD will be your everlasting light,
and your days of sorrow will end.

We should all want to be like that. We should all want to shine and long for the day that we will be radiant in God's glory.

Shine, Christians, shine.