We were playing flashlight tag in the forrest next to my house. It was cloudy, and the only thing we could see was the flashlight. The rules for this game were always changing, as children do in the heat of battle. Supposedly, you were IT when you had the flashlight. You counted to ten with the light out, then turned it on in an effort to illuminate the forrest, and shine on the next person who would take the flashlight and be IT.
I was often it, as I could never find the tree big enough to hide my youthful expanse that I blamed on my moms good cooking. After one particularly long game, we made our way out of the forrest. Then the light went out. not a slight weakening of the bulb, but an all out bulb failure. I was left in the forrest, with no light, and no help. Now, I was only about 50 yards from my house, but to a child of 9, it seemed like 50 miles. I stumbled over logs that I glided over a minute ago. I lost my direction several times, and started heading back into the now haunted forrest, as my imagination started kicking in. It was only a moment or two, but I will never forget the immense fear I experienced being left in the dark with no light to guide me.
Jesus spent alot of time talking about light. It was one of his favorite topics. Knowing how the father saw his creation, and knowing how much He loved what He created, Jesus could joyfully weave many stories about light to his disciples, and the masses that followed him.
At one point, Jesus turned around, looked at the crowd and proclaimed,
“ I am the light of the world, anyone who follows me will no longer walk in darkness. I will be the light that you can always follow”
The people remembered all the teachings of the Old Testament about light, dark, walking in light, or living in darkness. They understood the big claim Jesus was making. If this Jesus was the light of the world, then God had truly come to the Jews, just as He promised!
Light does alot of things. It attracts people, bugs, and animals to it. it illuminates objects and areas of darkness. It gives a person safe passage in the night. It helps surgeons operate. it allows us to read ( This was before the iPad) It chases away bad guys. Sunlight is responsible for sustaining and growing life. without it crops die, storms cease bringing water to us, the planet freezes, and all life eventually ends. I guess that is why the sun was created before anything living came to be.
Basically, light is where it is at. In our post electric, super charged battery culture, we are exposed to more light than ever before. People actually have problems falling asleep due to too much light in their lives. The soft glow of our technology seems to keep us awake at all hours of the day. Can there be too much light in our lives??
When it comes to God’s light, I think the more I’m exposed to His light, the merrier I am.
Jesus reminded people that if they followed him, they would become lights in a dying world. Shining for Jesus sounded great, until the government and religious leaders of that time started putting out the lights of believers, literally.
If you live in the light, as God is in the light, you will shine the light of righteousness on a dark world. Some will have their sins exposed, and willingly ask God to forgive and fill them with His presence.They are then filled with God’s presence, and shine His light to their world.
Others will be angry when the light exposes them in their sins. They will try to snuff out the light, and the person trying to shine it. Some religions will even snuff out the light, as it exposes the sin of slavery to man’s efforts, versus the freedom a relationship with Jesus brings.
Some will try to persuade you to turn the light down, and turn up your arousal factor. Stop being so controlled, and embrace the loss of control that the darkness offers. When those moments come, and they will to all of us, run, don’t walk! run to the light, hear the word, sing it loudly, rehearse it with a friend, collect an army of light bearers, and overcome the darkness with the light!
Darkness has never been able to exist when light is present. There is a theory of absolute dark, which some say is impossible to achieve. One of the things hell is said to contain is absolute darkness. Mt 6:22-23 is where Jesus says that the eye is the portal to the soul. when it is good, it is full of light, and your whole body is affected for the good.
Light has always be used in the faiths of the world to depict strength, might, purity, holiness, overcoming. There are many verses about God and light. His word give us light to walk carefully and confidently in a dark world. His Glory will be the only light we need when Jerusalem eternal is built on the new earth. The transfiguration depicted Jesus as pure light and holiness.
Darkness is, well, dark. Our eyes can make adjustments and dilate in order to pick up even the slightest of light. Total darkness is, well, dark, really dark. In total darkness, even a speck of light can seem like the sun shining through.
Gray is, well, bland. Gray is neither light or dark. It is undefined, without direction, indiscernible. Have you ever been caught in a fog bank during the day? It is eery how the headlights are soaked up by the fog, and the light is diffused over billions of tiny droplets. Even high beams bounce back and give no direction to the driver. If it was dark, the lights would work. If it was daytime and clear, the sun would do its job for you. Gray outs slow you down to a crawl, disorient you, and leave you uncertain as to the way you should go.
The enemy’s strategy is to have us live in the gray zone. Too much light, and we shine with strength, purpose, and holiness. Too much darkness, and we reach out for light, looking to the comfort and direction it can bring us.
Our culture is ok with gray. It will also embrace darkness, where it can get away with it, but gray can be maintained longer than darkness. So how do we start living a white hot life, instead of wasting away in the gray?
Jesus is our example. He says ‘You are the light of the world’ to those who claim to follow him. Do you shine bright, or live out your life in the comfort of the gray zone?
‘I have come as a light in the darkness, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer live life in the dark.’ No gray here, dark gives in to the light of life.
Don’t hide the light. Jesus uses a picture of a light under a basket to argue that light is created to be shined, not hidden away. You reflect the light of life as the moon reflects the sun. Don’t give into the gray zone and hide the light that is coming out of you.
Psalms 119:105 says ‘Your word is a light to my path, and a lamp to guide my footsteps.’ The hilly landscape of Israel made it dangerous to travel at night. Lamps were used to show where the cliffs and holes in the road were. The lamps showed light down onto the path, not outward like a flashlight. This allowed for illumination of the path around you for a couple of feet. The traveler had to pay attention at all times to the path directly in front of him where the light shined. The focus was on what the light illuminated, not on the light itself.
Reject the gray– Identify it in your life, judge it as wrong, and walk away from it every day.To repent is to actually turn away physically from what you are into that you know is wrong. Now your eyes are focused somewhere else, somewhere God is, and it is very bright!
Decide to shine– Today, the moment you read this page, decide to shine. Right now, determine in your heart that you will find a way to shine for God. We can only give out what we take in. If you have taken in the spirit of God at salvation, You have much to give out. You just need to decide.
You ARE a city on a hill, Now is the time to shine!
Plan to shine– What will it take to become a light unto the world? You’ve turned from darkness, you’re walking towards the light of life, and you are committed to shine a light for Jesus. Now what? What is the plan? Ready….Here it comes….very spiritual…..but easy to understand……
LOVE GOD, LOVE OTHERS, SERVE GOD, SERVE OTHERS.
Thats the plan? Thats how I shine for Jesus? Yep, and you’ll need His power and spirit to have any chance at it. We don’t have the capacity to love this deeply without the presence of the lover of our souls living in us.
Jesus challenged those tempted to paint their lives gray with this word “ In the same way you light a lamp and place it high for all to see, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will be drawn to God because of them”
Jesus knew that Loving God, loving others, serving God, and serving others would be counter culture from his time on earth until today. There is no way to live in the gray when you are in the flow with God, seeing life the way He sees life, seeing people the way He sees them.Having His view of the world leads to a natural light experience.
PART TWO COMING NEXT!
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