“You are God’s children whom he loves.”
Ephesians 5:1
When you were a child, you probably used tracing paper to copy your drawings. It involved a lot of flipping and a lot of smudgy graphite, but you could pass more or less the same image from one sheet of paper to another. If there was no tracing paper on hand, you probably also figured out that holding sheets of paper to the window let you do a similar thing. In short, lightboxes and light tables are the modern, grown-up equivalents of these processes.
Lightboxes are ‘boxes’ with a clear screen at the top and a light source inside. When they are switched on, it’s easy to see through the paper that is laid on the screen. So to trace an image, the original is laid directly on the screen, secured with a clip, and then covered with a blank sheet of paper. The lower image will be visible through the second piece of paper, ready to be copied.
The most obvious function of a lightbox or light table is to transfer an image from one piece of paper to another – for example, to turn an initial drawing (perhaps on rough paper) into a finished one (on art paper) – but they can also be used to combine two original images, since the light can generally penetrate more than two sheets of standard paper.
What a beautiful description of our lives with Christ. A beautiful picture of how Jesus transforms us and gives us a purpose. Don’t you agree? Do you see it!
“In the past you were full of darkness, but now you are full of light in the Lord.”
Ephesians 5:8
Look at the first two sentences in the second paragraph above. “Lightboxes are ‘boxes’ with a clear screen at the top and a light source inside. When they are switched on, it’s easy to see…”
I have chills. Before I encountered Christ, I was a child sitting in the dark. Blank with no picture or images to show. Nothing to reflect what was on the inside. But God met me in that dark corner and “switched” on the light.
“But the light makes all things easy to see. And everything that is made easy to see can become light. This is why it is said: wake up sleeper! Rise from death, and Christ will shine on you.”
When I first became a Christian, (and honestly off and on throughout my life), my relationship with God “involved a lot of flipping and a lot of smudgy graphite.” God’s image began to filter through my heart and my life. He has spent years tracing his love onto my heart. Imprinting his word into my mind and passing his image from him (the original paper) onto me (the second sheet of paper), combining the two originals to create something new. God’s light can penetrate through me and become visible to others.
As God transforms me into who he created me to be, “the lower image will be visible through the second piece of paper, ready to be copied.”
Lord, I am ready to be copied! Multiply not me, but through me. This is the great commission:
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”
Matthew 28:19-20
God, let your light shine through me so that others can see you in me. Shine so that they can hear you in every word that leaves my lips, every thought that enters my mind. God, brighten the world around me and use me for your glory.
“Pray that when I speak, God will give me words so that I can tell the secret truth of the Good News without fear. I have the work of speaking that Good News. I am doing that now….”
Ephesians 5:19-20
I am doing that now!
Mary Swafford is the founder of Shaken & Stirred, Meals that Matter, Coffee Talk, and a Co-Owner of Boulder Coffee in downtown Sand Springs. She is a wife, a mother of 3 beautiful children, but most importantly a daughter of the most high God. You are likely to find her chugging or serving coffee, sitting in a tattooist’s chair, or making friends out of strangers.
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash