Day Two Hundred Forty-Seven “Pop Pop Mountain”
I dare say that not everyone has a mountain named in their honor, but thanks to our grandson, my husband is one of those select few. Our home is nestled in the mountainous terrain of western Pennsylvania. Big Knob, a dome-shaped hill located in the village of Unionville, marks the highest point in my home county of Beaver, reaching an elevation of 1,382 feet. Pop Pop’s Mountain is a close second, and from atop our majestic mount, one can view Big Knob off to the east, along with acres of rolling farmlands, densely forested areas, grazing cows and sheep, and of course, our little home. But what is striking about Pop Pop’s Mountain is the breathtaking transformation that takes place after dusk. The stars shine so brightly in that night sky that one is tempted to reach out and grab one of those celestial nightlights. But something else is starkly evident that was overshadowed in the daytime skyscape. Off to the west on a distant hill, the stars are subdued by the bright lights of a busy retail mall and shopping hub many miles away from my mountain.
“A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid,” and that is certainly true of that retail region that fills a corner of our rural night sky with its illumination. I find myself mediating on that verse every evening that I find myself atop this mountain, for my eyes are automatically drawn toward that bright light far off in the distance, a light that was hidden from view during the daylight hours, but is unmistakably evident once darkness has conquered the sky. That is the thought that Jesus was impressing upon His disciples when He took them “up into a mountain” for some exhortation. He encouraged them to let their “light so shine before men” that the lost could not help but see the Light of Christ evidenced through their “good works,” and as a result, be drawn to the source of that Light, Jesus Himself. They were warned not to hide their light “under a bushel,” but to allow the “light of the glorious gospel of Christ” to shine, piercing the darkness of a lost and dying world with hope, mercy, and grace.
As I sit in my car atop Pop Pop’s Mountain, gazing across the horizon at that spectacle of light bursting through the darkness, I privately wonder if the scene unfolding before me epitomizes my life. Is my character and witness glowing so brightly that it pierces the ugliness and depravity of a sin-sick world and draws attention to my Savior, or has my light dimmed to the point that it is barely perceptible to the world around me?
Matthew 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.
Lord, I want to be that light that shines, drawing others to You. Help me to keep my testimony bright before a world that needs You so desperately.
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