Loving the Light

Scripture
 
John 3:19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.  20 For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed.  21 But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

Observation

Jesus is the light of the world and the brightness of his own life shines into the dark corners of the world. The world is exceedingly uncomfortable with the light that Jesus shines because it reveals all that is being done in the dark and secret corners. People want to have things hidden so that no one will ever find out what they have really done. This is why the light of Jesus is so blinding and people run to find the darkness.

Those who are openly reflecting Christ have nothing to hide. The light of Christ shines through everything that they do and there is great transparency in their lives. All that they do is clearly revealed in God’s words and deeds seen through them.

Application

I’m just thinking this morning of different places where we experience light and darkness. Sometimes we like one and sometimes the other.

As a teen I loved to sit on a beach in the sunlight and get a tan. I’ll probably pay for that some day!

When we go to restaurants they dim the lights so that they create an atmosphere in which they hope we will spend more money on dinner. It may be because we can’t clearly see the menu!

While living in Russia the winters were long and dark. I used to buy a big bag of tea light candles from Ikea that would last for months. Each evening I would light about ten candles in our apartment that would burn from about 6-10pm. This was to brighten our apartment because as more people came home to the building, more power was used. Little by little the electric lighting would go dim and so the candles were needed to provide light. When the candles went out — we went to bed. I thought our apartment was pretty clean during the winter months too — but then came springtime. Along with spring came bright and sunny days and as the sunlight would stream into the apartment I could see all the dirt that I had missed during the winter months. There had to be some spring cleaning.

We all have times when we need some spring cleaning in our spiritual houses. We must allow the light of Christ needs to shine brightly into our lives and reveal those dirty corners that desperately need to be cleaned. Only in this way will our faith be genuine and will others be drawn toward the clear image of the reflected Christ.

If the light causes discomfort, maybe we ought to evaluate what we are trying to hide in the darkness.

To love Jesus is to love the light.

Prayer

Lord, please shine your light into my life and help me to be willing to allow you to do your cleaning. Amen.
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