How intense is your light?

     For several weeks I have been aware of the degrees of light around me.  Maybe it's because I am getting older and need more light to see.  I really hope it's because God is teaching me something, though.  As you read, I hope what I am learning will encourage and help you. 
     It all started early one morning when I headed to McDonald's to get coffee before work.  I hadn't prepared the coffee maker the night before, and it was a cold morning which cried out for hot coffee.  So, instead of turning left from my driveway, I turned right.  About a mile down the road is a shopping area with a grocery store, 24-hour gym, dry cleaners, pizza place, doctor's office, convenience store/gas station, and said McDonald's.  It was a hazy morning, but the light cast a beautiful white glow above the darkness.  That light held a promise that something was there, something worth driving for.
     As I turned back toward the south, coffee in hand, the way became dark again.  Driving that two miles until my next turn, my way was dark except for the lights at the entrance to a neighborhood, a church sign, and an occassional street light.  In the distance I could see the orange glow of the city of Ringgold.  Without the headlights on my car, I would not have been able to see to drive. 
     That's when I began to wonder about the degrees of light.  Soft light, bright light, white or orange light.  Does the light of my life burn brightly like a city in the distance beckoning you to come or cast a dim glow like a campfire which you cannot wander far away from without stumbling?  If I am supposed to live like a light set upon a hill, reflecting the love of Jesus Christ to the world around me, what kind of light do they see?
     Today I did a dumb thing.  I looked into the business end of a bright blue light beam.  It hurt!  I worried that I had blinded myself until I realized I could still see.  And that is when the thought of degrees of light came back to my mind.  I wonder, do I reflect Jesus in such a way that it is blinding, in such a way that Jesus is all people see when they look at me and the way I live?  Sadly, I will answer that No. 
     I am passionate to change that.  I want to serve my savior in all that I do and say.  I want my attitude to be positive and encouraging.  I want to love people - REALLY love people.  I want to be consistent at home and at work in the way I speak and respond to people.  I want to be an ambassador for my Lord, representing him in such a way that one day I will hear the words, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."