“You are the light of the world … Let your light shine before others …” Matthew 5:14-16
Edwin Binney was an inventor and owned a company with his cousin Howard Smith. They made colors for factories—red for barns and black for tires. In 1903, at the urging of teachers, he invented a colored oil crayon made of wax that looked similar to a chalk stick. Binney didn’t know what to call his invention, so he asked his wife, Alice. Alice mixed two French words together. The word craie, which means a stick of chalk, and the word ola, which means oily. Craie Ola. Binney spelled it, Crayola. In 1904, Binney and his cousin took the crayons to the World’s Fair. Children loved them. The box had 8 colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, brown and black.
God gave Binney the idea to invent the crayons. Binney was a great inventor, but God is the greatest Creator. Did you know that when God said, “Let there be light”, colors came into existence? When God commanded light to exist, He began adding color to our beautiful world. Color comes from light. Without light, there is no color.
God wants us to be a light to the world. He wants us to tell people about Jesus and shine brightly by bringing color to people’s lives.
Have you ever sung the song “This Little Light of Mine”? The song reminds us we are not to hide our light under a bushel. God wants us to be light bearers of love, joy, peace, and kindness.
Thank You God, for creating light and color, and help me bring happiness to someone today.
Activity: You can read more about Edwin Binney in the picture book, The Crayon Man. The True Story of the Invention of Crayola Crayons by Natascha Biebow.
Carmen Eicher lives a life full of adventure ~ which inspires her to write devotions, Christian fiction and nonfiction stories for children and adults.