Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

Our Reading titled Reflecting Christ's Light was written by Patricia Rabin.

To capture the beauty of reflective light in his landscape oil paintings,

artist Armand Cabrera works with a key artistic principle.

Reflected light is never as strong as its source light.

He observes that novice painters tend to exaggerate reflected light. He says,

reflected light belongs to the shadow, and as such must support, not compete with the lighted

areas of your painting. We hear similar insight in John, Chapter 1, concerning Jesus as the light of all

mankind. John the Baptist came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him

all might believe. The gospel writer tells us, he himself, John, was not the light.

He came only as a witness to the light. As with John, we're chosen by God to reflect Christ's light

to those living in the shadows of an unbelieving world.

This is our role, as one source says, perhaps because unbelievers are not able to bear the full

blazing glory of his light firsthand. Cabrera teaches his art students that anything that has direct light

falling on it in a scene becomes a source of light itself. Similarly, with Jesus as the true

light that gives light to everyone, we can shine as witnesses. As we reflect him, may the world be amazed to see his glory

shine through us.

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from John chapter 1, verses 4 through 9.

In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God whose name

was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might

believe. He himself was not the light. He came only as a witness to the light. The true

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