Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Psalm 119: 105, NKJV
Dear Lord, please be with us as we look into Your word. Make it plain to us we pray, for Christ’s sake. Amen
It is a fearful experience to walk in the dark. That fear can be compounded if our surroundings are not familiar. Just two nights ago, as I sat in front of the computer the light shimmered, then went off. In less than a minute it was back. In a few minutes it was gone again. This happened three times. Immediately, we started looking for anything that would provide some visibility. We soon found some candles, and flashlights, and then there was light in the house once more. The third time, the light stayed off for approximately one hour. For the first few minutes that we were in darkness, even though our surroundings were familiar, moving around in the dark was not comfortable. There was a feeling of uncertainty in the atmosphere. This was the first time in the seven years that we have lived here that we experienced a black-out.
We live in a world that is immersed in darkness, both spiritual, and moral. People are depressed by all that is taking place around them. Crime of every description, and some are so hideous, that there is no description for them, occupies first place in the news. In order to enhance the sale of newspapers, evil is “glamorized” to a fault, which only serves to create more darkness. Meanwhile, in many households not one copy of the Bible can be found.
On the other hand, because the riches in the world are so unevenly distributed, some have more than they need, while others have barely enough, some not enough, and others none at all (James 5: 1-5). This gives way to societal darkness (caused by hunger, homelessness, despair). Due to these situations, men and [women’s] hearts are “failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth” (Luke 21: 26). It sounds as if the prophet Isaiah must have had a vision of our time when he wrote the following: “For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people” (Isaiah 60: 2).
But praise God, there is hope!
“…Jesus…[l]eaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet saying, The land of Zabulon and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death life is sprung up” (Matthew 4: 12-16). (Emphasis provided). Yes, Jesus is that light which lighteth every man, woman, and child, that comes into the world. When His precepts are followed, and He is allowed to reign, His presence, and His Word, dispel every trace of darkness: spiritual, moral, or communal.
He not only came to bring light to earth, but to shed it in our hearts as well, that we might get to know God. “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness.’ made [H]is light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4: 6, NIV). (Emphasis provided).
Thanks be to God, our story can have a happy ending because Jesus, “the Word made flesh, the “Light of the world;” has come!