Faith Phases of the Moon
Bedtime can be my favorite time with my kids or the most challenging.
Challenging in all the things, the water, the lost lovey, the “I thought you didn’t have homework, please just go to bed moments.
But then…
I love the cuddles and how they seem to have a spoken word count they must achieve in a day because my kids sometimes just can’t stop talking right before I turn off the lights.
One evening my oldest was divulging the woes of his day and all the goings on. Once he finished his monologue, I had one question for him.
What kind of moon were you in that situation?
Yep, that’s about what his face was like.
Let me back up a minute and tell you that he was studying the phases of the moon in school and saw fit to communicate the scientific name of each phase when we were out late enough to see the moon.
Now back to my question. Are you still making this face?
Well, first there is something that we have to understand about the moon. The Moon doesn’t create its light. We’re taught this passively and rarely think about it.
In truth, the moon only reflects the light of the sun. The Moon is 400 times smaller than the Sun and 400 times closer to the Earth than the sun, hence why they can look the same size in the sky.
Okay, science class aside.
We as a believer in Christ as called to be ambassadors of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20) to be imitators of Christ (1 Corinthians 1:11), or as I was trying to communicate to my child, we are to reflect the light of Christ, the Son of God.
Let your light shine before men, so they may see the good that you do and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16
Yep, that verse, reflect the light of God so other may see who he is.
So, I put the question, I put to my kiddos, to you.
How well are you reflecting Christ?
Are you Full Moonin’ it with all your actions reflecting the love and grace of God? This is a tall order for any believer, and why I am so thankful for grace. I’ve known a few people that blow my mind with how well they represent Christ in every conversation. They show me a Full Moon Faith is Possible.
Are you a Half Quarter Moon? Your heart is right, but your actions may not have represented Christ well. I could go deeper with this one on whether you’re facing the Son or turned away, but I think we’d be here all day.
Are you a crescent moon where your actions are covered by sin or sin that is present in your life?
Or a New Moon where sin and selfishness define your heart of actions. Truthfully without the Holy Spirit’s presence in our kids’ lives, this is where our kids camp in this analogy.
But the goal is to raise fully devoted followers of Christ. If that is the goal, then this is a great tool to communicate how our actions show the condition of our hearts.
“For out of the heart the mouth speaks.” Luke 6:45