在新冠疫情期間，世界各地的學校為了健康和安全考量，都暫停上課，讓學生留在家裡，學校的校舍和體育場都空無一人。老師們知道，許多人正遭受病毒所帶來的巨大痛苦，於是他們想方設法向學生們表達他們的關懷與思念，藉此鼓勵學生們堅持度過這段艱難時期。就這樣，許多學校發起了一項名為「成為光」的活動，在每天晚上都亮燈，讓空蕩蕩的體育場燈火通明。

耶穌在世的時候，也要求那些跟隨祂的人「成為光」，祂對他們說：「你們的光也當這樣照在人前」（馬太福音5章16節）。然而，祂的教導並不只是為了鼓舞人心或提供精神上的支持，而是有一個更崇高的目標，那就是要我們願意彰顯祂放在我們裡面的光，讓觀望我們的世人知道上帝是誰。我們的生活方式，包括言行舉止，都能顯明耶穌賜給我們的盼望，使我們周圍所有的人能看見，就如同一盞燈放在燈臺上一樣。

耶穌稱我們為「世上的光」，祂鼓勵我們，當別人走在毫無盼望的黑暗道路上時，要用祂透過我們發出的光芒照亮他們。對於那些還不知道耶穌所賜盼望的人而言，我們的生命所散發的光可以引導他們認識上帝，這一切盼望的源頭。

When schools around the globe sent their students home for health and safety during the coronavirus pandemic, their buildings and stadiums stood empty. While acknowledging many were experiencing greater afflictions from the virus, teachers sought ways to show their students they missed them and to encourage them to press on through a difficult time. Many schools initiated what they called the “Be the Light” challenge, in which they burned the empty stadium’s lights each night.

During His earthly life, Jesus issued His own kind of “be the light” challenge, saying that we who follow Him are to “let [our] light shine before others” (Matthew 5:16). His charge had a loftier goal than encouragement or moral support; instead, our willingness to reveal the light He’s put in us shows the watching world who God is. The way we live our lives, in both word and deed, reveals the hope Jesus gives us, making it visible to all those around us, like a lamp on a stand.

Jesus calls us “the light of the world” and challenges us to illuminate the paths of others with His light radiating through us when they’re walking a dark road. For those who don’t yet know the hope Jesus offers, sharing His light through the way we live can point them toward God as the source of all hope.