30 | September | 2011 | Daily Encouragement

“Light My Candle”

September 30, 2011

Friday, September 30, 2011

Yankee Candle Flagship Store, South Deerfield, MA

Listen to this message on your audio player.

“Light My Candle”“For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness” (Psalm 18:28) “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16).

I wonder how many of you know what the second most frequented single tourist attraction is in Massachusetts? After all, Massachusetts has many historical sites in Boston and Plymouth, the Berkshire Mountains and Cape Cod, all with many interesting facts and stories of famous people.

Well, it will probably surprise you as it did me. The highest attendance is at the Freedom Trail in Boston, but the second highest is the Yankee Candle Flagship store in South Deerfield (over 2 million visitors a year). We, along with friends Rick and Rachel, were numbered among those current statistics yesterday.

The flagship store is designed as one of the original models for “shoppertainment” and it is indeed both. It would be an exaggeration to say Yankee Candle displays millions of candles though it seems like it when you walk through their flagship store. But their brochure indicates that they have 200 famous Yankee scents and display some 400,000 candles. Since candles are usually a girl sort of thing, they provide a classic auto museum with eighty exhibits for the men! They also provide a lot of benches which were occupied by men during our visit yesterday.

Candles individually don’t put out a great deal of light, but imagine how much light the candles in this store would provide if their wicks were lit all at once! Today God has called us to let our light shine in a darkened world.

I remember talking with a Pastoral couple who went to Bible College in an area where a great number of believers resided in the community and surrounding area. After graduation they returned to their home state where there is much unbelief and cynicism. I asked Judy, the Pastor’s wife, “Weren’t you tempted to stay in an area where people are more receptive to the Gospel?” She quickly responded, “No, I couldn’t wait to return to my home state. The darker the sight, the brighter the light.” She was basically saying that if we, as believers, shine our light before the darkened world, brightness, truth, and deliverance will follow. This couple has served the same congregation for over 40 years now and they’ve seen many people come to Christ over the years.

You may work with many dedicated Christians in a well-lit place and feel your light doesn’t really make a difference, yet you are a vital part of the whole. Have you ever attended a wedding ceremony or other candlelighting service where one candle burns out? Have you seen a store sign lit up at night with one letter missing its back up light? How about a strand of lights that aren’t working on the Christmas tree? It’s an eyesore and your eye is often drawn to the unlit or broken part, rather than the whole candelabra or the business sign in its entirety.

When we, as believers, allow the life changing message of Christ to wane in our lives or behave in a manner that does not glorify Him our flame flickers. If it goes completely unchecked our light can burn out. We don’t want to bring disgrace or further the darkness but rather we want to honor the One “who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.” Today the Almighty God of the universe has called us to let our light shine. Let’s do so!

Be encouraged today,

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber

Daily prayer: Father God, You have called us to be a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people set apart to show forth the praises of Christ who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. Since You have enlightened our darkness we will not conceal it in the privacy of our home or car, but we want to shine it forth wherever we are; in the marketplace, in the business place, in the neighborhood, in the voting booth, in church and wherever we have opportunity to bring forth light in this world of darkness. We can make a difference and want to do so. We want to witness faithfully through Jesus Christ our Lord in whose name we pray. Amen.

New England photos

The Great Awakening Memorial Stone in Enfield, Connecticut.
Here’s a photo of us at the stone 11 years ago.
Here’s a photo of the inscription on the stone.

Brooksyne and Rachel comfortably posing at one of their favorite shopping sights in New England – the Flagship Yankee Candle Village. The Yankee candle fragrances in our cars will make it a pleasurable drive through New England all the way home to Pennsylvania. ”Roasted Coffee” fragrance filled the car yesterday to the point of our stopping for coffee at a Coffee Shop during the heavy rains.

We couldn’t resist taking a photo of this cow catching a frisbee. It made us think of Mollie, Ester’s Border Collie Pup, who loves to catch frisbees. She begs to play all through the day by dropping the frisbee at anyone’s feet who’s willing to toss a few.

One of those comfy benches where the men get to rest or
in this photo Stephen is hibernating with the bear though I’ll
wake him up to pay the bill at the check out counter. He just
wishes he could sleep through the winter.

Ester got in on the action as she stood beside a 602# pumpkin at Yankee Candle. It weighed in just a little bigger than the butternut squashes we grew at home this year.

Rick and Rachel Caldwell enjoying a walk over the churning waters and in between the downpours over the Bridge of Flowers in Shelburne Falls Massachusetts. This bridge was formerly a Trolley Bridge converted to a bridge of flowers in 1929. A lovely, even romantic walk, as pedestrians are surrounded by flowers on both sides. It’s easy to forget that you are actually walking on a bridge over a raging river!