"I Am the Light of the World"

^{I Am the Light of the World}
  

^{We begin our lives in the dark, enclosed in our mother's womb.  When we make our entrance into the world, light crashes into our senses, and we squeeze our eyes tight against it - the darkness is familiar, the light foreign.  In the beginning, the world was shrouded in darkness, and God spoke "Let there be light."  Jesus came into the world, He is the light of life . . . and the darkness didn't comprehend or understand Him.  Our world is dark, filled with people and ideas that attempt to thrive separate of God, which is darkness.  Even as we follow Him, we can delude ourselves, be deceived or rebel and choose darkness rather than looking to Him to guide us with His light.}  

 

^{"Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, '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)}

^{Jesus speaks truth plainly;  the image is simple - He is the light, and if we follow Him we will not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.  Clear, not complicated . . . yet difficult to live out, due to our tendency to choose the darkness.}  

^{Whenever we want to choose our own way, knowing that God wants something different for us, we choose darkness.  Whenever we choose not to ask, we choose darkness.  Darkness lets us hide; it suggests that we can do something and not be discovered . . . and we welcome darkness when we want to do things we'd rather no one else know about . . . especially God.  CRAZY how we delude ourselves, isn't it?  Even a child knows that if he's under a table God can still see him, yet we try to hide anyway.}  

^{Sometimes it's a dark area of activity;  sometimes it's a dark corner of our personality or our character, our emotions or our thought life.  Initially it seems that we can control this secret pocket; even maintain our relationship with God along with our secret.  Eventually, the darkness becomes too much - we hit that point where sin shows itself for what is really is; corrupt, empty, threatening to engulf our entire self in a void.  That's when we call out to God.}

^{Or perhaps you truly are walking genuinely and openly before God, when suddenly life around you seems to grow dark.  Your circumstances take a dive, and you can't see your way through.  People and things that you counted on turn out to be unreliable, even dangerous to your well-being.  That's when you call out to God.}

^{And the amazing thing is, the instant we call to Him, there He is!  His light permeates our darkness, and hope returns.  Maybe not all the details of how we will move from where we are to where He will lead us, but the certainty that He is there, that He has been all along, and that He knows how to guide us out of the darkness is undeniable.  Usually we can't help wondering why we waited so long to turn our face toward Him!}  

^{A speaker once asked us how much light it takes to dispel darkness - the truth is, not much.  Think of the comfort of lighting a single candle or turning on a flashlight during a blackout.  Think of the definition you gain from a soft nightlight when sleeping in a strange place.  Think of the difference between paralyzing fear when you're surrounded by darkness, and the immediate sense of readiness to move toward a light revealed in that moment.}  

^{Whether we bring on the darkness or life brings us to it, our answer is the same.  Jesus is the light of the world.  He is ever-present, ever aware of us, ever ready to illuminate our mind, heart and path.  All we need do is seek Him and follow Him as He leads us.  Thank You Jesus, for lighting our way.}

^{(the link to the kid's post is:  http://elizabethtreger1.blogspot.com/2014/12/christmas-countdown-dec-19.html)}