Are you afraid of the dark?  Do you prefer the sunlight or are you more comfortable on dark gloomy days?  Is your disposition in life sunny or cloudy (or if you are like me sometimes a little foggy)?  Can you identify with the night more than the day?  Just why am I asking all of these questions?

 

I believe we move according to our own perception of the world in which we live.  However, I believe we need to move not with our own perception, but rather on our faith if we want true meaning and purpose in our lives.

 

Now some people may be getting ready to gather a posse and set out to find me so they can shoot my opinion down.  However, before you walk out the door, sit a spell and please let me expound further.

 

We have been given a great gift – the gift of life.  Actually we have been given many gifts, but this one is the most important.  Material blessings are wonderful indeed, but eternal life is on a realm all its own.

 

In the beginning we were given life and when we arrived into this world, we were given so much more.  We had it all people until we took everything for granted and put our personal needs ahead of the Almighty Lord.  We were given a set of instructions (The Ten Commandments) to follow.  We were told to put no one ahead of God and to not worship false gods.  Did we listen?  No, we failed right at the starting gate.  Remember how Adam and Eve ate that forbidden fruit?  We were rebellious from that point on.

 

Again and again we caused (or added) to our downfall.  We chose to look the other way, to think of ourselves first, and we sought everyone but the Lord for help.  We were wicked.  We became arrogant and we fought to hold the reins of control in our hands.

 

God, after being patient and slow to anger, had enough and sent his wrath upon us.  It was only because of his grace that we did not perish.  He had another plan in mind.  He was going to send his son to us to save us from ourselves.  That son was Jesus and his death on the cross paid the ransom for all of our sins from our past, from our present and from our future.  Now that does not mean we have reason to sin, but rather we have a reason to fully live for him.  We have a window of opportunity.

 

We started off in darkness and living in our sin.  However, after Christ sacrificed himself for us, he paid our ransom and freed us from our sins so that we now can walk in the light and follow him.  I am not implying that we will never sin again, but rather now that we have Jesus as our role model and we choose to honor him, we should weigh our choices and turn away from our past selves.  We are a new person – one who lives for the Lord.  We need to make the decision daily to honor him by living for him.  He is our light – the light that leads us down the path to eternal life.

 

I know there are people who are still unaware of whom Jesus is.  Because they are not aware of Jesus, they cannot understand the symbolism of the light and the contrast with the darkness.  It is our duty as followers of Christ to teach others that do not know him and explain why he is our life.  We do so by using his word (The Bible) to explain where it began and how we were born into darkness (sin).  It is imperative that we stay true to his word and not misrepresent what the bible says.  From here we can construct a supporting argument that helps the non-believer have an understanding of the symbolism of light and darkness in this world.  First, we need to address what the darkness is, and then we can identify who the light is, and why the light means so much to Christians.  I will expound on this by giving you a few bible verses that explain and demonstrate what I am talking about.

 

I have mentioned previously, we are born into darkness.   What is this darkness?  It is a two-part answer.  One is the setting and one is our lack of commitment to our spiritual walk.  The darkness represents the earth’s setting in the beginning as explained in Genesis 1:2: “The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.”

 

It also is more than a setting.  Our sins stem from the dark.  Darkness also represents the status of our spiritual health as stated in 1 John 2:9-11:  “Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.  Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.  But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”

 

Now that we can understand how darkness started; thus creating the problem in our life, we can look for the solution to this problem.  The solution is the light.  Next, we need to define who the light is and why we want to follow that light.  We turn to the bible again to see several verses that define who the Light is:

 

In John 8:12 Jesus answers that question:  “Again Jesus spoke to them saying, I am the Light of the world.  Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  John 1:5 defines the purpose and the power of the light:  “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

 

After determining who the light is, we need to establish why we follow the light.  1 John 1:7 clarifies it is out of reverence to God and for fellowship.:  “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his son cleanses us from all sin.”  Here we learn to honor God by keeping his command to obey him and follow Jesus in our spiritual walk.  When we walk with the Lord, we are renewed and our steps take on a new meaning.  We strive to follow our role model and walk together with our fellow Christians.  We learn to serve others and love others as he has loved us.  We open ourselves up and do all of this for God’s glory, not for our selfish want.

 

So where am I going with all of this?  Life is a gift.  You and I had nothing to do with our being born.  We come into this world naked and clueless.  Where we go is determined by our choices and our circumstances.  We can choose to live in darkness.  We can choose to remain blind about our surroundings and unsympathetic to others or we can make a choice to see the light and obtain everlasting life.  This is done when we ask Jesus into our life and then make the needed changes in order to build a relationship with him that is based on trust, love and respect.  It should never be entered into or taken, lightly.  It determines where you will be after this life on earth is over.

 

I was born in darkness, but I chose to change that environment.  I decided one day to flip the switch and turn to the Lord.  I asked him into my life and I discovered what true love was and what it meant to give all of yourself over to someone else.  There is no regret, well, maybe just one.  I heard the news much earlier in life and it went in one ear, sat around for a bit, and then it went out the other ear.  I made a lot of bad choices at that time.  I was not ready to take God seriously.  However, throughout my life, he kept telling me he was there for me, until one day, I opened my heart fully and let him in.  It is by his grace alone that I am able to partake of eternal life.  He brought the joy into my life and gave me my purpose. Remember that time is short people.  We never know when it will run out.  Take the time right now to learn about God, his love, and his son.  Accept the invitation to come to a local service and listen to the message that the pastor is sharing with you.  Invest the time and then follow your heart.

 

God will never leave you nor lead you the wrong way.  1 John 1:5 states:  “This is the message that we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”  He will not deceive you.  His word is proof of that.

 

Stand up for him and follow his light.  Become a light for others and shine brightly.  This is all for his glory.  As the song lyrics say:  This little light of mine I’m going to let it shine…let it shine, shine, shine…let it shine.”  God Bless!