Reflection for June 17, 2009

"Let Your Light Shine"

My wife and I are especially fond of Franklin, North Carolina. Over the years we have found it to be a wonderful place for rest and relaxation. While autumn is special, we find the other three seasons to be equally beautiful and peaceful. Beyond these obvious attractions, we enjoy the Sunset, our favorite restaurant. It is nothing fancy, but it has a great breakfast, lunch and supper menu.

One does not have to eat at the Sunset but once to realize that the owners are Christians. Their faith is not flaunted but it is evident without being overwhelming in the decorations and sayings you find on the walls. Most of all, it is evident in the people who work there. During our last visit in 2007 our server for each meal was the same lady. (I believe her name was Sue.) In our conversations with her, we discovered that she had worked at the restaurant for twenty-four years. She worked six days a week from 6:30 AM to 3:30 PM each day. If you do the math, it shows that she works fifty-four hours a week and she does it with a smile.

When we expressed an appreciation for the number of hours she worked each week, she responded, “I enjoy my work.” Her pleasant demeanor gave evidence that this was not a rehearsed response but it was an expression of her true feelings. Anyone who has worked in a comparable position knows the toll that working with the public day in and day out can take on one’s attitude. To be able to hold such a position for twenty-four years and to still do it with a smile and an upbeat attitude was amazing. My wife and I concluded the obvious. She had to have special help. Her help came from her relationship with Christ.

As my wife and I discussed her testimony through her service, I thought of several verses that would reflect her attitude. Proverbs 16:24 reads, “Pleasant words are a honeycomb sweet to the soul and healing to the bones” (NASB). Proverbs 25: 11 reads, “Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word spoken in right circumstances” (NASB). I could not help but wonder how many lives she has blessed over the years by greeting them first thing in the morning with a smile and a kind word. In Matthew 5:16 Jesus is quoted: “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (NASB). I am sure that over the twenty-four years there have been bad days, but in the days we had opportunity to be served by her, we can testify that her light shined brightly and she was an example of Colossians 3:17: “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father." (NASB).

We all could learn a valuable lesson from the pleasant personality of this fine lady. We could learn that we need to be careful of what we say and the attitude we say it with. Like it or not, if we have identified ourselves with Christ, others are watching to see how we handle ourselves. We need to let the words of our lips reflect the place that Christ has in our lives. We need to let our lights shine brightly wherever we go. If we do, we may profoundly affect someone’s life without knowing it.