Living in Light

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Scripture:

1John 1:5   This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; 7 but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 

Observation:

Here we learn that the essence of God is seen as light. This is in contrast to darkness, which is viewed as evil. There is no darkness, or evil in God at all. The presence of darkness or evil, is the absence of light. We cannot walk in darkness and claim that we are in a relationship with God, because God is not in the darkness. We are simply lying about our relationship with God. But if we are willing to step out, into the brightness of God’s light, we will have holy fellowship with God, and with all of those who are in the light. It is in this place of bright light that the blood of Jesus will cleanse us from all our sin.

Application

Our two-year-old granddaughter loves sunlight. When it’s time for her afternoon nap, she insists on sleeping “in the light.” She lays a little blanket on the floor where the sunlight is streaming into her bedroom so she can sleep with the sun. It’s a precious little sight, and when you look through the monitor, you see a beautiful sleeping child, almost glowing in the sunlight. She’s disappointed when she wakes up and her sun has moved! 

Our faith is to be something like Mackenzie’s desire to be in the light. We are to love the light that shines on us when we are wholeheartedly given over to a relationship with Jesus Christ. When we fall in love with Jesus, our desire should be to soak in the light as much as we can. For Mackenzie to soak in the light, she must place herself directly in the path of the sun coming in from the window. If she were to lay on her bed, there would be no light. If we choose to hang out in the spaces where God is not present, we will find ourselves in darkness. We must take action to intentionally place ourselves in the light — and then, to remain there. 

I’m afraid that there are those who claim to be in the light, but who are not. They are living in the shadows, going through the motions of appearing to be Christian, while at the same time not wanting to be in the light. The problem with the darkness is that we think it hides things. We don’t want all that we’ve done or are doing to be visible either to ourselves, to others or to God. We fool ourselves into believing that things can be hidden. In the meantime we miss out on all that God has to offer us. 

The light has come in Jesus Christ. This Christmas season is a beautiful invitation to come and embrace the light. It's time to lay down our lives and soak in the light of the Son who gave up everything to come and fellowship with us. 

Prayer:


Lord, thank you for the possibility of fellowship in the light. Amen. 

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