Light Your Candle

When I was in sixth grade, my Dad gave me money to buy my Mom a Christmas present. I couldn’t decide what to get until I was at a florist shop and saw a display of the most beautiful candles I’d ever seen. They were made to look like many different kinds of petit four desserts and real enough to eat! I finally chose one with a realistic mandarin orange on top and gave it to Mom as my gift. She loved it too! In fact, it was on display in our dining room for many years.

More than once my Dad would say, “Why don’t you burn that candle?” To him it was made for a purpose and to be used without sentimental attachment. To Mom and I, it was something special – a gift that over the years had become more than “just a candle.“

Now both my parents are gone and I found that candle again, packed away in a box. It reminded me that things are, after all, just things. There’s a time to let go. One day, I decided to finally light it and use it. The memories are what we keep forever. 

There’s another lesson this little candle can teach us. Let’s call it, “What are you waiting for?” 

Is there something important you’ve been wanting to do but keep putting it off? A dream? A goal? A calling? You could keep it on the shelf for years – or the rest of your life – and just look at it. Or, you could actually take the first step, then another, and do it! It doesn’t matter what age you are.

As believers, we have been given a gift by God to USE for a purpose. In 1 Peter 4:10 (NLT) it says:

“God has given each of you a gift from His great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.”

Light that candle you’ve been given and use it!

RESET HIGHER: Take a breath or two and let something come to mind as it relates to this challenge. How could what you do well, or what comes naturally to you, help others? What blessing is yours to give to make a difference in someone else’s life? What would happen if you didn’t give it? What could happen if you did?!