I felt led to follow up on our last Proverb due to some of the
feedback I received. I want to discuss “Light” and “Darkness” just a little longer. I will pick up on
Proverbs 13 after this Devo.
"Erma Bombeck tells how she was sitting in church
one Sunday when a small child turned around and began to smile at the people
behind her. She was just smiling, not making a sound. When her mother noticed,
she said in a whisper, `Stop that grinning--you're in church,' gave her a swat,
and said, `That's better!' Erma concluded that some people come to church
looking like they had just read the will of their rich aunt and learned that
she had given everything to her pet hamster!"
Sadly, this funny story is true for many. What occurs is a
misunderstanding about communing with God. (Worship) Moving toward God is
always moving into the Light, which should be an exhilarating experience!
However, when seeking to meet with God, if we do not do it through Faith, we
will miss the Light! God was so committed to communing with us that He took on
flesh!
Jn 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through
him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In
him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in
the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
There are three words used here that are essential to
comprehend if we desire to commune with our Creator.
φῶς phṓs {foce} Light, God is light because light has
the extremely delicate, subtle, pure, brilliant quality; of truth and its
knowledge, together with the spiritual purity associated with it; that which is
exposed to the view of all.
σκοτία skotía {skot-ee'-ah} Darkness, the
darkness due to lack of light; metaphor - used of ignorance of divine things,
and its associated wickedness, and the resultant misery
καταλαμβάνω katalambánō {kat-al-am-ban'-o} Understood; to lay
hold of so as to make one's own, to obtain, attain to, to take into one's self;
to seize upon, take possession. [1]
Jesus said:
John 4:23–24 “But
an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father
in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 24 “God is spirit, and those who worship
Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
When we approach God through Faith, our spirit is seeking Him;
still, it must be based on Truth. If we consider the three words we saw in
John, we will help ourselves in embracing a deeper walk with our Lord.
* Light - That which is Truth!
* Darkness - Ignorance of that which is Truth!
* Understanding - That which opens our spiritual eyes to Truth!
Once in a “Peanuts” cartoon Lucy puts her hands on her
hips and says, `You, Charlie Brown, are a foul ball in the line drive of life!
You're in the shadow of your own goal posts! You are miscue! You are three
putts on the eighteenth green! You are a seven-ten split in the tenth frame!
You are a dropped rod and reel in the lake of life! You are a missed free
throw, a shanked nine iron, and a called third strike! Do you understand? Have
I made myself clear?
John 1:1-5 is that clear about the Light. It exposes the
problem we fallen humans have.
“The light shines in the darkness, but the
darkness has not understood it.”
John goes on to point out that we prefer the Darkness:
John 3:19–21 “This is the judgment, that the Light has
come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for
their deeds were evil. 20 “For
everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear
that his deeds will be exposed. 21 “But
he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be
manifested as having been wrought in God.”
πονηρός ponērós {pon-ay-ros'} Evil in a moral or spiritual sense, wicked,
malicious, mischievous. [2]
Evil does not always equal “a Hitler!” However, compared to God we are evil, we
prefer to remain ignorant to what we are doing wrong. Why do we do that? Deep
in our heart, which God made, we will know that we are accountable and will
have to change.
Moving into the “Light” requires Faith and demands honesty! This
is why self-examination is so important, because as we allow God to examine our
hearts He can expose any darkness we have.
An easy example is our idea of “forgiveness.” Jesus exhorts us to forgive others as He
forgives us. If we are willing to live in the Light, God will show us when we
have fallen short of that. Unforgiveness is one of the strongest cancers to the
soul Darkness uses. Many times we have “learned to live” with the hurt, yet
have not really forgiven.
It reminds me of an old Irish Prayer I heard:
May those who love us, love us; And those who don't
love us. May God turn their hearts; And if He doesn't turn their hearts, May He
turn their ankles, So we'll know them by their limping!
If you have a relationship with God you have come into the
Light, yet we all still have that Dark fallen nature that tries to hide from
the light.
Our sins concerning relationship with our Lord are forgiven and
gone, however, the sins we now struggle with affect our fellowship and
friendship with God. Paul makes it clear in Romans 7 we have a new nature that
desires to walk in the Light, but our old nature battles for power.
John stated it clearly:1 John 1:6–7 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; 7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
If we walk (how we live daily) in Darkness, we will empower our
enemies greatest weapon…discouragement,
which leads to lack of Faith!
In that condition not only can you lose sight of the light at
the end of the tunnel, you can reach the point where you do not even see the
tunnel.
The So What: Write down as many areas as you can where you are
discouraged - There will be darkness there. Go to the Light and seek for
understanding. (Pray, Read the Word, and seek godly counsel.) Call someone this
week that you think is discouraged and be a light bearer for them.
[1]
Zodhiates, S. (2000). The complete word
study dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG
Publishers.
[2]
Zodhiates, S. (2000). The complete word
study dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG
Publishers.
