WHAT MEASURE DO YOU USE?
21 He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? 22 For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.”
24 “Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. 25 Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.” Mark 4:21-25
Reality and truth are not interchangeable but they are aspects of the same thing. Jesus declared Himself to be the truth – He represented the Father and revealed the Father in every facet of His life – His words, His ways, His character, His attitudes, and His interaction with people. He was the true God in a body and living a human life on earth.
He also declared Himself to be light – the Light that came from God into the world to reveal what the Father and the domain of the Father is really like. Light exposes and reveals; light dispels darkness. Where there is no light, darkness is the atmosphere in which everything that is afraid of exposure flourishes.
Therefore, Jesus said that light is meant to be on display, not covered up because if it is hidden, it serves no purpose. To conceal truth is counter-productive. Truth automatically exposes lies and deception. It is not meant to be kept secret but brought out into the open so that everyone can see.
What is the truth that Jesus is constantly revealing? Darkness is about selfishness, greed and wickedness. Light is about righteousness, generosity and unselfish service to others. These are the two opposing forces in the world and they underlie the ongoing power struggle that is tearing the world apart.
Light is the enriching and unifying power of righteousness, doing the right thing in every situation and for every person, no matter what it costs. “Generosity begets generosity”. It’s like ripples in a pond. Generosity is the “pay it forward” principle that has the power to change society. It’s the “creating a current” policy that gets resources moving into areas of need and suffering.
This is reality – living the kingdom way that dispels darkness and exposes God’s character to those who have been deceived by the lies that put us in the centre of our universe and insist that we must be number one.
The truth is that we determine the measure of light or darkness we live in and display to the world. We also determine the outcome of the way we chose to live. Yes, stuff does happen but we alone choose what we do with it. Jesus’ principle is “Walk in the light and let your light shine…”