Those who know me even a bit, know a funny and slightly humiliating truth about me. I do NOT like the dark. Okay –okay, I don’t just not like it, I am a little scared of it. Since we’re close and all, I am going to share quite an embarrassing moment with you.
One night I had to walk down a dark trail in the woods alone to get back to my car. I began to dread the moment even before the sun had begun to set so you can imagine the build-up that was happening in my head. But even amid dread, I began to speak logic to myself –you know the same logic and reasoning that we tell our children when they are certain there is a monster under their bed.
We know the truth and so do they but in the dark things seem different.
So different that on that particular night, as I began to walk towards my car that was no more than 5 minutes away, the truth and logic that I kept telling myself was almost instantaneously being swallowed up by the dark that now surrounded me.
Nothing looked familiar. The path that I had walked hours earlier seemed to be a world away. The one necessary turn that I had to take disguised itself as if almost playing a cruel joke. And who knew that the crunch of a stick could perfectly imitate perfectly the sounds that matched the many fears in my head?
As my heart began to beat faster and faster, I did the only logical things a grown woman would do in a moment like this ….
I RAN
Thankfully the story ended happily ever after except somewhere along the way I lost my credit card, driver’s license, and several other items that had been in my pocket the night before. The evidence that loose pockets don’t function properly when one begins to run frantically was soon revealed because sprinkled along that dark path was a continuous trail of all of the things that I had lost.
In the daylight, this lost feeling seemed so silly to me. The reality is that I had everything I needed on the trail that night but one thing –the LIGHT.
In the light, the path is clear, the shadows are understood, the direction is certain, truth is visible, and the crunch of a stick is just the crunch of a stick.
The LIGHT brings TRUTH!
In John 8:12 Jesus says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Jesus tells us that he is the light of the world. In essence, Jesus is saying that He is what brings guidance, direction, clarity, and most importantly truth. Truth is fact –it’s reliable, certain, and doesn’t change based on contrasting opinions.
Jesus refers to himself in the same manner in John 14:6 when He says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Not only is Jesus the One that offers direction, but He is also the way to His Father –the only way –the way to Salvation.
This light is a gift to all who would receive it and walk in it. In Matthew 5:14, Jesus makes a beautiful statement to His followers when he says, “You are the light of the world.” As we accept the light into our lives and walk in it, we leave truth all along the paths that we take. Jesus is the light of the world, and because of this, those that would believe and place their faith in Him will receive this same light.
The truth is that there really is no in-between state. We are either living in the light or walking in the darkness. The two are separate, and distinct and serve two entirely different purposes.
With this thought in mind –read Genesis 1:3-4:
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.”
It’s worth the time to read that again… “…God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.”
Friends, the light is good and because of its goodness it is separated from the darkness. There is no confusing the two and there is also no mistaking the effects of each.
Without the light, we are eternally separated into darkness away from our Creator. But with the light of Christ, we find
JOY, PEACE, HOPE and CLARITY
Jesus says that we are the light of the world. Look around… there is a dark world that is lost and in need of the truth.
What are you doing today to be a light to the lost? You aren’t meant to be hidden under a basket instead, Jesus says, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
Let’s step up, step out, and boldly share the light of Christ so that we may honor and Glorify God!
Read the Previous October Blogs!
Week 1: Passage Study: We Are Because He Is
Week 2: We Are The Salt
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