LOVING THE LIGHT

And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.  John 1:5

When I was a small boy, my night light went out, and in fear I thought I was drifting about in outer space. My frantic call, “Mama,” soon brought relief.

“Light” is one of the major themes in John’s gospel, used 14 times in the book. Light and darkness are familiar symbols in scripture. In an intellectual sense, light is a reference to the Biblical truth while darkness refers to the error of falsehood. I love the light and hate the darkness. Dec. 22 is the worst day of the year to me, for it’s on that date that daylight hours begin to shrink each day and darkness grows.

In a moral sense, light is a reference to holiness or purity, while darkness refers to sin or wrong-doing. Darkness has special significance in relation to Satan and his demons, who rule the present spiritually dark world as prince of the power of the air, promoting spiritual darkness and rebellion against God. The devil loves the darkness and hates the light. Let’s be sure to let our little light shine as beacons to this sin-darkened world.  Like John the Baptizer, we are not the source of God’s light, merely a reflection of the light. Jesus is the true Light. He helps use our way to God and shows us how to walk along that way. But Christ has chosen to reflect His light thru His followers to an unbelieving world, perhaps because unbelievers are unable to bear the full blazing glory of His light firsthand. The word “witness” indicates our role as reflectors of Christ’s light.

We are never to present ourselves as light to others, but always are to point them to Christ the Light. What a tremendous privilege!

Red Williams