Scripture
Then Jesus asked them, “Would anyone light a lamp and then put it under a basket or under a bed? Of course not! A lamp is placed on a stand, where its light will shine. For everything that is hidden will eventually be brought into the open, and every secret will be brought to light. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.” Then he added, “Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given—and you will receive even more. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.” Mark 4:21-25

Observation
The message of these words of Jesus is this: if I become a bright light bulb the Lord will put me in a useful place to shine as far as possible.

How do I become a higher wattage follower of Christ? By paying close attention to what I hear. And how can I hear? I must read the word and let it affect me. I listen to some after they read a Bible passage and squirm as they argue against hope and question the book. I have come to a conclusion. To gain true insight, I must not read the Bible, I must let the Bible read me. The scripture is living and active and it probes through my soul like pruning shears. The more I let the word of God have its way in my hidden areas the candlepower of my heart will increase.

If my light is bright, will the Lord put me in a cupboard? Well look to history.

Take an obscure preacher who spoke to a handful of bible college students in a now defunct institution and who spoke to dying men as an army chaplain. He was cut down from an appendicitis attack and his widow returned home to London. But she took with her folders of shorthand dictation that recorded every word her husband had spoken. Ten years later she published a book of his thoughts called My Utmost for His Highest.

Take another story of a missionary to Japan filled with burning zeal to touch every household in Japan with the gospel. But declining health sent him as an invalid back home to be nursed by his faithful wife until his death. Wanting to change the world, the missionary could not change his own clothes. His wife nurtured her own soul through the ordeal with books, magazines, scriptures and kept clippings of the encouragements that the Lord sent her way. The result was a devotional called Streams in the Desert.

Application
Jesus does not make it clear who brings the lamp out into the open and places it on a stand so that all will see its light. One could take his words to suggest that we should put ourselves forward to position our story of Jesus in the most accessible place possible. But I think more often it is the Lord who gives us a lamp stand and it is he who pulls us out of ineffective places and puts us in a place where our light is useful. The one thing we have control of is the brightness level of our light. The Master puts us where he wills, but it is up to us to be sure we are the highest wattage bulb possible.

Prayer
Father, somehow it is comforting to know that all of this is not up to me. You place the lamp on the lamp stand it is mine just to shine. I trust you in that. Amen.