An Available and Obedient Lighthouse.

This week’s photo is the Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse. The lighthouse is located in the Portland Harbor in Maine. According to the Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse page on US Lighthouses, Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse was erected in 1897. Before construction of the lighthouse, mariners used other landmarks to guide them as they traveled from Fort Preble out to the main shipping channel.

That process worked okay for smaller vessels, but not as well for larger, less agile ships. After many instances of ships being run aground, it took the efforts of seven steamship companies banded together to show the Lighthouse Board in Washington, DC, that they moved over 500,000 people into Portland Harbor during 1890, to get approval for the lighthouse.[1]

The lighthouse’s most unusual attribute, to me, is its height. I’d always pictured lighthouses as tall, majestic structures lighting the way for ships miles away. True, there are some of those, but many lighthouses are short. They give warning for a particular close-range danger that is hard to see in inclement weather.

At first glance, you might think this week’s photo is the very top of the lighthouse, not the whole structure.

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According to US Lighthouses[2], the Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse is only forty feet tall. And, based on my count of the list they provide, there are 154 lighthouses shorter than the Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse. That surprised me.

I shouldn’t be surprised. No one (that I know of) has ever said a lighthouse has to be tall. There are lighthouses on top of normal-sized house. There are even lighthouses on ships, called lightships.

Just like a lighthouse may come in various colors, shapes, and sizes, so do those who represent the light of Jesus.

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16, NIV)

Jesus is talking to His disciples here. The disciples were a group of ordinary men. John McArthur puts it well on the back cover of his book, Twelve Ordinary Men.

“What is most amazing about the disciples is that Jesus ever selected them at all: among them a handful of common fishermen, a hated tax collector, and an impulsive political zealot. When you take a fresh look at the disciples, you’ll be faced with a stunning fact: The men the Savior chose were ordinary. Hopelessly human. Remarkably unremarkable. But they were available and obedient to the Master’s call.”[3]

Like a lighthouse that doesn’t look like what we imagine to be a lighthouse, you and I are lights for Jesus. We don’t have to be beautiful, smart, or excellent in any way.

All we have to be is available and obedient.

Today’s feature photo comes from a “photo-a-day” challenge I pursued several years ago. The photo inspires the topic. For me, the posts challenge my creativity, writing discipline, and dependence on God for His message. My prayer is that you find hope in God’s Word, and that you’ll share your hope with others.

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[1] https://www.us-lighthouses.com/spring-point-ledge-lighthouse

[2] https://www.us-lighthouses.com/towerheight.php

[3] MacArthur, J. (2002) Twelve ordinary men, How the Master shaped His disciples for greatness, and what He wants to do with you. Thomas Nelson, Inc.