Dull or Bright light?

The lightbulb in our laundry-slash-dog's room recently burned out. Ds changed it & boy was it suddenly BRIGHT in there! & I mean BRIGHT!

That room is right behind the kitchen on your way to the back yard. I hate the way my kitchen looks @ night. It looks dull & DINGY to be precise. At first I thought it was dirt, on the walls, cupboards ect. SO I scrubbed & scrubbed but it still looked 'dingy'. Then I figured it must have been a 'dingy' paint color but it doens't look as 'dingy' in the daylight. Then after changing that lightbulb...I have come to another conclusion....

It's the lightbulb!

The lightbulb is dim & dingy.....OR.....the cover is dirty & is causing the light that is trying to shine through it to appear dingy.

Either way, this is what I realized.....@ any time my light (which should really be Jesus' light) can become 'dingy'. Maybe I have let 'dirt' & 'grime' build up on or around me, thus dimming my light. Have I? Have you? Think about it.

Is the paint (the people around us) actually dingy OR is it just the reflection of my dingy light? Am I not shining as bright as I could be? Have I let myself go & maybe I need some cleaning up? Why should I let my dirt hold back the light?

Or do I need something to refresh me & give energy back to my light? Am I too busy trying to scrub what is around me (like my cupboards) when really it is me that needs the scrubbing to get the light to shine as bright as it once was?

I realized there was never anything wrong w/ my kitchen...it was just the light that was the problem.

I for one have heard this lesson loud & clear...I am going to make sure I maintain MY light this year & shine as bright as possible.