byThe youth wing of the Church of Pentecost has this slogan, “Youth! Arise and Shine”. But where did they pick inspiration from? Isaiah 60:1,
“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.”
What does it mean to arise, and what does it mean to shine? Am I living in the light? This and many more questions that might boggle your mind upon reading the topic will be discussed subsequently. After this, as you live in the light, you will know how to arise, shine and stay radiant.
Living in the light
As a believer, there are many things that you will need on your journey to propagate the gospel. You can only satisfy these needs if you abide in Christ and He abides in you (John 15:7). When this happens you are living in the light. The deeper you abide in Him, the brighter and closer you are to His concentrated radiance. As 1 John 1:5 puts it, “This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.”
You might not literally feel that you are living in the light, but that doesn’t change anything because the things of the Spirit are not based on feelings but on the word of God. There was one time after service back in high school when I felt God’s power very powerfully after service as if I could fly if I wanted to. What happened to me after some hours? I went back to “normal”. Why? I did not continue living in the light. As you will realise, this is a very intentional step and does not happen by chance. So what do you do once you start living in the light?
Arising
You must arise when you finally start living in the light. The Oxford Thesaurus of English provides ‘come to light’ as one of the synonyms for ‘arise’. So you must become apparent. How and where do you do this? You do this by being the best in whatever you’re doing, be it your law career, bible studies, undergraduate course or parenting. People realise you are in that space of influence when you do this.
Shine
“This little light of mine, I’m gonna to let it shine.” I thought of this song differently: I have God’s light, and it is not little. Today, I have come to the realisation of the letter and spirit of the song that it was not about the nature of the light you have but the amount of light you carry. No matter how small your light might be thus, no matter how shallow you might be in Christ, shine. Show it to the world around you. Be the word of God you know. Do not just say the word, act it out.
Stay Radiant
After you shine, what next? There is no after you shine; I am not even sorry. You never cease to shine. Once you start, you must continue. Have you not heard of Kathryn Kuhlman, Papa Ayo Babalola, Archbishop Benson Idahosa, Apostle James McKeown, John Wesley, and other men of God? The list goes on and on, even including Saint Denis, who is said to have been decapitated but picked up his head and walked several miles preaching a sermon on repentance. There is no stopping, shine on.
The essence of this article is that, as believers in the one true God, we must abide in God and live in His light, arise with the light in us, shine and keep on shining. That is part of the kingdom agenda of God, eternal life, that we may know Him, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent (John 17:3).
