The Green Light

This past Veteran’s Day, retail giant, Walmart, started a campaign called Greenlight A Vet whereby the public is asked to change one light bulb in a visible location to a green colored bulb as a symbol of appreciation and support for our veterans. As their website www.greenlightavet.com states, “green is the color of hope”.

Hope. When most people hear the word “hope”, there is always a bit of doubt associated with it. “I hope I win the lottery.” Okay, sometimes it’s more than a bit. Fortunately for us, biblical hope is much different. A biblical definition of hope is “confident expectation”. It offers firm assurance regarding things that are unclear or unknown.

• “For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” (Romans 8:24-25)
• “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)

 
As we are about to celebrate the birth of our Savior, we are reminded that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament promise – a fulfillment of hope. Furthermore, we should experience renewed hope and expectation of eternal life.
 
A motivation for writing this post came from a recent sermon on biblical hope, but it also came from a neighbor on my street. Both were necessary. My neighbors have had a green light burning each night on their front porch since Veteran’s Day.

​I’m a fairly observant guy, so I would normally notice something like this. However, this light has been bothering me. Bothering me a lot. You see, I learned recently that this family had a son serving in the Middle East. When he came home, he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Apparently, it was too much for him. He committed suicide about a year ago leaving a wife and daughter behind.
 
I can’t imagine the grief they experience, but that green light hurts every time I see it. Do they know Jesus? How does someone cope with tragedy like this without Jesus?
 
While researching the green porch light, I was reminded that “greenlight” is a term commonly used to “activate forward movement”. For those who don’t know me, I am hands down the weakest evangelist of the Remember Ministries bunch. However, I don’t believe in coincidences. There are no coincidences. I have my marching orders.
 
Tomorrow, I’m going to visit my neighbors. I want them to know that I noticed the green light. To know how it has affected me. I want to establish a relationship. I want to know if they attend a church. I’m going to invite them to mine. I want them to experience biblical hope – true hope.

Mark Prasek