Arise, shine;
For your light has come!
And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.
For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
And deep darkness the people;
But the Lord will arise over you,
And His glory will be seen upon you. (Isaiah 60:1-2)
The world is about ready to plunge into darkness, but call God is calling us into His light. Do we hear His call? Jesus said:
“I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
The psalmist wrote:
The Lordis my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lordis the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1)
Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path.
106 I have sworn and confirmed
That I will keep Your righteous judgments. (Psalm 119:105-106)
Jesus, the Word made flesh, came into the world but few of His people received Him:
And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. (John 3:19-20)
The message that Jesus wanted to convey to His disciples was that they should choose the light over darkness:
Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.” (John 12:35-36)
We have been called by Jesus to walk as children of the light. Young children are open and trusting, particularly if they are raised in a loving environment. When we get older we become more aware of our shortcomings and we want to hide them. We don’t want others to see through us because we know that we are not altogether pure. The Pharisees made it a practice of diverting the gaze of others from them by compounding rules that others would not be able to keep. They created darkness to obscure that fact that they were not walking in the light themselves.
While we have Jesus we should walk in Him. He extends His hand to us but we must grasp it. Though He warned the Pharisees they would not listen. All anyone can attempt to do without Him is to coverup. Yet darkness is only a temporary solution. Ultimately, it is no solution at all. Why should we depend upon deception when we can depend upon God?
Jesus is the light of the world. He is our salvation. Are we open to Him as a little child would be, or are we hiding in the darkness of our own making? Let our prayer be:
In you, O Lord, I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
incline your ear to me and save me. (Psalm 71:1-2)
