Walking in the Light

I was recently told by a priest, “Do you ever walk into a dark room? You cannot see, you bump into things, knocking over a lamp or a chair, a glass falls on the floor… Then you turn on the lights, seeing that everything is a mess. What have I done? Yet now you know it was because you did not see. So now you know to turn the lights on.” There are many ways to interpret this and I will give you my short version. It boils down to walking and living in the light.

I agree that living in the dark, mistakes will be made. Further, sometimes staying in the dark, we don’t know how much damage has been done until we turn on the lights. More to that end, some prefer to stay in the dark so as to turn a blind eye to what they have done, what others are doing, or simply to avoid responsibility. Another insight from the priest’s words is that of using the light to see our faults and in knowing how to see our faults, we always “turn on the lights”. As a pastor has said, “…sins need to be brought out into the light. If you fight the devil in the dark, you’re going to get your tail kicked.” The devil lives in the dark. That is where he thrives and we where we fail. We try to handle it on our own but this is not our home; we are children of the God, the light. As Jesus has said “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Therefore, by being of the light, we automatically are opposite of the dark. We cannot be successful there.

So first, we must believe in Christ. We must believe that we are children of the light because then we can use that power to eradicate our sinful ways. This is anything that keeps us from walking with God. Practically speaking, we know that the sun can destroy many things. We can leave a stinky shirt out in the sun and it will kill the bacteria causing the stink. If blasted by the sun long enough, it can bleach wood, fade paint, and whiten bones. The light is very powerful. Evil cannot withstand the light. We instinctively know this and it is reinforced by Hollywood; light is good and dark is bad. Returning to Christ, he came into the world as light, to abolish our sin. When we believe this, we are following Him. When we do what He asks, which at the most basic form is loving God and loving neighbor, we are walking in the light.

As we walk with God, His light shines on us and in us, and we are a magnification of His light to others. We can be that beacon of hope and goodness for someone else. This is why we walk in the light; nor only for ourselves but for others. We bring all our darkness into the light to destroy in and thereby destroy its captivity over us. We replace that burden with the freedom and light of God.