Are you seeking to be led by the light? Or are you comfortable living in the dark? Do you want to be enlightened? Or do you prefer to hold on to ignorance? Would you like to lead others into the light you stand in? Or are you content to bask in the light by yourself?
Tough questions. But ones we should wrestle with. If we do not consciously consider them, wrestle with them, and reflect introspectively, we will be swallowed by the selfishness of our culture. Our own little world becomes all about us rather than considering others.
Take a moment to consider light, any light. Have you noticed the darkness cannot overcome it (John 1:5). Light goes out in all directions. Do this quick experiment. Grab a flashlight, one that you can make into a narrow beam, if possible. Go into a dark room, completely pitch black. You may need to go into a closet to be in a room with no external light. Once inside, turn on the flashlight. Leaving the flashlight pointed in one direction (you may even set it on the floor, so you don’t move it) and look around the room. Though the beam is pointed in one direction, the light spreads beyond, even in the opposite direction.
This is the point being made about God’s light. It spreads. It may not always be as bright in one direction as it is in another, but it dispels the darkness. When we allow God’s light to come into us, it will spread. It won’t occur in a single moment. Yet, it will spread throughout us. Of course, the more time we spend with God, the more the light spreads.
His light comes to us in the form of the Holy Spirit to enlighten us and to show us the full glory of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We can narrow the beam to focus only on Sunday morning, but the light continues to break through in other areas, even if just a little. We also can widen the beam, all the way to the point of being a lantern that puts forth light in all directions of our life. When we do that, we are shining the fullness of Christ to all we encounter.
I pray we all see that light dispels darkness. I pray we decide to widen the beam of light we have been given. I pray each one of us will share the light of Jesus with everyone we meet. Light overcomes darkness. The Light has shone in our hearts. Spread the light of Jesus. See the glory of Jesus.
2 Corinthians 4:6 For it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Marty Pressey 