What’s the first thing you normally do when you get home at night? Do you sit in your favorite chair and pick up a good book? Do you turn on the television to watch your favorite show? Do you go to the cookie jar and munch on some goodies? These may be a part of your evening routine, but I’d bet the first thing you do is turn the lights on. When you get home at night, the first thing you do is hit the light switch so you can see your way to the recliner, find the TV Guide, or raid the snack stash.
Without the light to illumine your path, you’d trip over the Rescue Heroes fire truck your son left in the middle of the hallway. Without a night light in the bathroom, your sons might mistakenly miss the mark. You do know what a “shin” is, don’t you? It’s a device for finding furniture in the dark. Ouch!
We need light. Light is good. Life is easier to navigate when we can see clearly.
So, then, why do most people keep living in the spiritual darkness of this world when Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12)?
I don’t know if you’ve noticed this or not, but this world is a spiritually dark place to be, and we desperately need a Savior. This is a corrupt and wicked generation. You don’t have to look much past the governor’s office to understand this. Read the headlines in the newspapers about the latest drug bust, the most recent case of child pornography, or the string of vandalism and robbery. And those are just the ones who get caught!
What about the sins that never make the news? Gossip, slander, envy, deceit, malice, disrespect for authority, self-righteousness, pride, arrogance, lust, greed – just to name a few. Are these sins any less dark in God’s eyes?
And who could argue with the truth of 1 Timothy 6:9-10 in our day of economic hardship, where the Bible says: “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”
Wickedness and ungodliness today are not unlike the days of Noah when “the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to the heart.” (Gen. 6:5-6).
Sin has made this world a spiritually dark place to be, and if you keep walking in it you’ll soon find yourself thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. There’s no way to sugar-coat the warning that the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23).
But, praise God, that’s not the end of the story! We’re not left to stumble in this darkened world and then plunge into everlasting destruction. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.” Friend, you don’t have to walk in the darkness any longer! Jesus is the light of the world! Follow Him, and you won’t be walking in darkness, but you’ll have the light of life! The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord!
When Jesus said, “I am the light of the world,” He didn’t mean that He was just one of a thousand points of light in this universe as we know it. He meant that He is the only way by which man can be rescued from the domain of darkness. When Jesus said, “I am the light of the world,” He was proclaiming that in Him alone was everlasting salvation for all people through every age who would receive Him. Follow Him, and you won’t walk in the darkness any longer.
Instead, you’ll have the light of life. As you follow Jesus you’ll have the light of the life of Christ burning brightly within you and shining out of every pore of your being illuminating the world. Follow Jesus, the light of the world, and let the light shine in 2009!
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