You ever have one of those moments where you realize you've been doing something wrong for years—and suddenly everything makes way more sense?
Yeah. That happened to me with a children’s song.
It wasn’t until just a couple years ago that I found out I’ve been singing “This Little Light of Mine” wrong my whole life.
You know the part that goes:
“Hide it under a bushel? NO!”
Well, I always thought it was:
“Hide it under a bush? Oh no!”
A bush. Like shrubbery. A respectable hedge, maybe. I pictured someone trying to hide their faith behind landscaping, and I was passionately against it.
It wasn’t until my wife (gently, but with the authority of someone who’s known the truth for years) corrected me that I found out it’s bushel, not bush. A bushel—like a basket.
Apparently, I’ve been out here fighting the wrong enemy. It wasn’t about hedges—it was about hiding your light. And that correction? It made so much more sense.
Jesus said in Matthew 5:15,
“Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.”
Now it clicks. And even though I had the lyrics wrong, the heart of the message is still true:
Don’t hide your light.
Don’t dim it to fit in.
Don’t cover it up to avoid attention.
Don’t let fear or shame talk you into silence.
Let it shine. Let it point to the hope, peace, and truth found in Jesus.
And now that I’ve got your attention—check out a devotional I wrote for Ember Faith called This Little Light of Mine. Read it HERE.
