Rise and Shine

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.

Isaiah 60:1 (NRSV)

A flash of color on my stone path caught my eye. I stooped to get a closer view. A pansy, dressed in the color of kings, met me face to face. I gasped.

“How did you get here?” I asked, but all the while I knew.

In the fall, the wind picked up a seed from my plants on the deck and tossed it down below to the crack in the path. The seed found a bed in the dark earth and slept there all winter.

Spring came and switched on the light, like my mother used to do to wake me for school.

“Rise and shine!” she would say, as she threw back my cover. And I would long to switch off that light, cover my head and go back to sleep.

When we live in sin, we are like that. We want to stay in the dark and away from the light that exposes our sin. But when we admit our failing and allow God’s Light to penetrate our heart of stone (see Ezekiel 36:26), He will forgive our sin (see 1 John 1:9) and give us new life, like the sun gives to the pansy seed.

He will fill our heart with joy, and we will spring forth to bring joy to those along our path.

Lord, let the light of Your face shine on us (Psalm 4:6b).