Valley City Times-Record

“Is Your Lantern Lit?”

During the early days of trains, a flagman would take his place in the middle of the street—stopping all traffic as a train approached. During the day, he would hold up a stop sign. At night he would wave a lantern. There is an old story about a flagman and his lantern that goes like this:

There was an accident one dark night at a railroad crossing. A lawsuit followed, and during the proceeding­s the flagman was called to take the witness stand. The prosecutin­g attorney asked the usual questions. Then followed an important one. He asked, “On the night of the accident, when you saw the car approachin­g, did you wave the lantern?” The flagman answered, “Yes, I waved the lantern.” The attorney for the prosecutio­n continued with other questions, but before long he came to the same one, “Did you wave that lantern?” “Yes,” answer the flagman, “I did wave the lantern.” The case seemed to hinge on this bit of testimony. The prosecutor realized it, and so once more he thundered, “I ask you again, when you saw the car approachin­g the crossing, did you wave the lantern?” Once again, the flagman answered, “I did. Yes, I waved, the lantern.” The railroad company won the case. No damages were allowed. Later, the defense attorney was talking to the flagman. He said, “The prosecutin­g attorney really had me worried when he kept asking, ‘Did you wave the lantern?’ “Well,” said the flagman, “What worried me was that he might ask, ‘Was the lantern lit?’”*

Well, getting beyond the crookednes­s of the flagman’s testimony, let’s focus on the lantern. I fear that many of us Christians are busy waving a lantern, but it is not lit.

We can all get into a habit of just going through motions when we worship God in church or when we pray or serve in some way. It is easy to be like Pharisees who liked to look good on the outside, but were dead on the inside. It’s so easy to act like we care about someone, but then quickly forget about him/her when we walk away. It’s also so easy to have darkness creep into our hearts and snuff out the light that we have.

What is our calling in 2024? Move closer to the Light of the World, Jesus Christ. You and I will only be with lit with the light of his grace and love when we spend significan­t time with him, in word and prayer, seeking to follow in his steps (I Pet. 2:21), while turning from sins that darken his glow in us.

Our ultimate goal in life should be “to proclaim the excellenci­es of him who called us out of darkness and into his marvelous light” (I Pet 2:9). In so doing, we will “Let (our) light so shine before men, that they may see our good works and glorify our Father Who is in Heaven” Mt. 14:16.

So what will you do in 2024 to keep your lantern lit for Jesus?

*The story before the asterisk is an excerpt by Cecil H. Skibbe, a now deceased pastor.