Jehovah's light

We have all been through those dark days in our lives.  You know, not feeling very chipper, down in the dumps, wish I could crawl into a hole and die type of days.  When winter comes we can very easily find ourselves hiding away somewhere hoping the sun will come out soon.  Isn't it amazing what a little sunshine can do to raise the spirit?  We have been going through some long, rainy, dreary days this winter and finding things to do outside just didn't seem appealing.  Then one day the sun found a hole in the clouds and shone down on us making the clouds and rain of the past seem so insignificant.  The warmth I felt on my face just seemed to brighten the whole day and made everything look so different.  The birds were singing, the hills looked so much better even though nothing had changed in them yet.  The only difference was the sun was highlighting the different shades of gray's and greens.  What a difference a little sunlight can make.


With the sunshine beating down on me I begin to look at life in a different way.  I find myself thinking of projects to do, such as changing the landscape around my yard, how am I going to arrange my garden this year, or where can I go for a trip.  My mind wanders all over with exciting things, plans begin to form anew.  Life just seems to come alive with just a touch of sunlight.  I even find myself getting a lawn chair out to sit out on the deck or backyard with my back to the sun just soaking up the warmth of the sun's rays.  The tensions of a long, cold  winter seem to fade away as my muscles relax and my thoughts fade away to some distant place of utopia.  What a difference a little light from the sun will do during those cold winter days.


When God created light He did so with a purpose.  That purpose was to separate the light from the darkness, to make the difference between night and day.  There was to be an absolute distinction between the two.  Light's purpose is to penetrate the darkness and provide illumination for the surroundings.


Darkness is described this way from an online dictionary:  Dark:  (adj.) darker, darkest  1. (a) Lacking or having very little light.  (b) Lacking brightness.  (noun)  1.  Absence of light.  2.  A place having little or no light.


Let's look at some scriptures that use the word light in a different perspective.  Matthew 5:14  says that we are the light of the world.  We are like a city on a hill that cannot be hidden.  We need to ask ourselves how are we light and who is the world?  Since light penetrates darkness then we must in some way illuminate in the world.  In my last blog I looked into Christ's reference to salt and how we are to be like it.  Salt is a mineral used to enhance flavors of food and it is used as a preservative.  Salt also creates thirst.  Since we are to be like salt, we are to bring a new flavor into the world and help preserve or protect the world from total decay and at the same time create a thirst in those we come into contact with so they will want to drink from the living water.  Light is something that illuminates darkness.  In scriptures the world is equated to darkness and darkness can be a reference to sin.  If we are "of" the world, then it would be safe to say that we are living in sin.  When Christ prayed for His disciples in John 17:9-20 He said that they were not "of" the world anymore, they were now "in" the world.  So when we look at Matthew 5:14 and see that He is referring to His disciples as the light of the world, He is saying that we illuminate the dark world around us by allowing God's love to shine through us.  God's truth, the good news must be brought into a dark world.  The other part of the scripture makes it more clear as to our responsibility with the light that God has given us.  It says that "you are the light of the world, like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden."  Once we choose to follow Christ and give Him Lordship over our lives we become the carriers of God's truth (light).  This truth is to penetrate the darkness of this world.  If our light is not shining then it would be safe to say in this matter that we have hid our light under a basket.  Our light must shine so that all may see not only who we are in Christ, but who we represent as ambassador's of God's Kingdom.  If we do not shine then how will the world find their way into His Kingdom?  


When God created you He created you with a purpose, in fact, everything God created He created it with purpose.  Just as light had a purpose, you and I have a purpose.  We are all created with a unique talent or ability of some sort.  When we give Christ Lordship over our lives the Holy Spirit then gives us a spiritual gift.  We are to use these gifts and talents to shed the light of God's truth into a very dark and lost world.  In letting our light shine in a way that all can see, then we will be an attraction to all those around us.  To many times we put a lamp shade on our light, a lampshade that consist of bitterness, outbursts of anger, sexual immorality,impurity, lustful pleasures, malice, backbiting, envy, jealousy, hypocrisy, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, selfish ambition, dissension, division, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these, Galatians 5:19-20.


Yes, we live in a dark world and it seems to be getting darker all the time.  Christ, before He left to go back to the Father, He left this command, "go into all the world and preach the good news to everyone."  The good news being that Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father and that we all need to believe in Him.  When we apply the fruit of the Spirit to our lives then we will know our light is shining brightly and the world that lives in darkness will be able to find their way.  The light we have will penetrate the darkness providing direction for the lost.  


Do not let your light be hidden.  You may be the only hope someone has in finding their way to the heavenly Father.  The light you have is the light of Christ, if the believers light (Christ) does not shine through them, the world has no hope.  Jesus Christ said, "I am the way, the truth and the life.  No one can come to the Father except through me," John 14:6.  Jesus Christ said earlier in His ministry that God, His Father, sent Him into the world to be a light to the lost.  John 3:16-21 says; "for God loved the world so much that he  gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.  God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.  There is no judgement against anyone who believes in him.  But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God's one and only Son.  And the judgment is based on this fact:  God's light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.  All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.  But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants."


Continue to be the light that God wants you to be.  Allow the Holy Spirit to live in and through you so that Christ will be a bright light shining into a very dark world.  The days are short and the time is drawing near for Christ to return and reestablish His Kingdom here on earth.  Don't be caught with a lampshade over your light and miss out on the joy of letting your light shine into this dark world.  Your light is important and many depend on it shining brightly.   


As the sun shines down on you in a cold winter day and brings you warmth and hope for a better day, let it be a reminder of the light you are to the world around you.  The light you carry may just be the light to one who is lost and searching for a better way.  Share your light with them so they to can find their way.  May God bless you daily as your light shines into the darkness.