When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
Have you ever been in complete darkness? I’m not getting metaphorical here yet. I’m taking pitch black darkness. You know what I mean- a room so dark that the glow of an alarm clock or the beams from the moon are unable to bleed in. Where even the abrupt wave of a hand in front of your face would go unseen.
The kind of dark where getting up for a glass of water in the middle of the night seems like more work that it’s worth. Where the risk of stubbing your toe on your bed frame leaves you talking yourself into staying tucked away under your covers. “I’m not THAT thirsty…”
There’s something particularly daunting about complete darkness. It holds us captive and limits our abilities, often causing us to stay right where we are. We fear the unknown. In many ways, the world we live in resembles that of a dark room. When desperate enough, we find ourselves stumbling around it like zombies, grasping with our arms stretched out for clues of what is around us. More often, however, we find ourselves paralyzed into submission, “I’ll just stay right where I am. It’s not worth the risk.”
Around the holiday season, we suddenly become big fans of light. Overnight, we transform our homes with strings of sparkle and shine that mask our leaking roofs and chipped up paint. For a moment, we are able to see what is around us, (for better, or for worse.)
And there is something that feels safe about it all. To see, to know, to understand. We no longer are living in the dark.
But what if our light wasn’t seasonal? What if this “light” sustained past the holidays, beaming into the new year? Overflowing into our each and every day
The call for our lives is to live into this state of light. The light of Jesus Christ. The joy, the goodness, and the hope that comes with being adopted as His.
So here it is — an opportunity to walk in HIS light — to BECOME light. To shine in the darkness. To penetrate the depths of sorrow and despair with his brilliant glow.
For we weren’t called to settle for stubbed toes and iPhone flashlights.
We were called to be the “light of the world.”
“Out of darkness the light shall shine!’ is the same God who made his light shine in our hearts, to bring us the knowledge of God’s glory shining in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6)
— Emma Hayman, Worship Leader
