“Hide it Under a Bushel…”


BIBLE READING: Matthew 8. 14-34, Mark 4-5
DISCUSSION                                                   
                Every week I get the privilege of leading elementary chapel at Mars Hill Bible School.  It is so invigorating to see and to feel the passion in the hearts of these students as they sing those songs and follow along in their Bibles to the day’s lesson.  One of the crowd favorites with the younger ages is the old classic “This Little Light of Mine”.  As you might recall, one of the verses in the songs deals with today’s reading. “And he said to them, "Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? “For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light.” (Mark 4:21-22).  The question that Jesus is asking is a rhetorical one; no one buys a lamp only to cover it up.   The lamp is purchased to be used and seen as it brings light into a dark room.  Thus, the analogy the song makes with the “Light” that is shining within us demands to be seen.  If we have the “Light” within us and are hiding it under a basket or under the bed, we are stifling it from its purpose; exposing the darkness. The song that we have sung since we were kids uses the word “bushel” instead of basket.   That just simply meant a bowl or pot, making the analogy virtually the same.  Of course, you know the reaction of the kids when we sing the line “Hide it under a bushel?” is an emphatic “NO!”.  I only wish us as adults shared the same passion about our lights!
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