Have you ever been in a completely dark room and immediately reached for your phone? We instinctively reach for light when we are in darkness. Maybe that’s because God created us to need light; not just physical light, but spiritual light. Jesus said:
I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but have the light of life. (John 8:12)
The question isn’t whether darkness exists. The question is: where do we turn when we find ourselves in darkness?
Fear keeps us in the dark and keeps us from being our authentic selves. So when we follow Jesus and walk in His light, His love casts out fear, and we live authentically. When we walk in fear, darkness finds a place in our soul, and subsequently we live from our false self. Our false self is not the person we were created to be, but the person we chose to survive; to stay hidden; to be what others think we should be. Walking in the light of Christ means choosing to live authentically.
1 John 5:1-11 is an extraordinary passage showing the contrast between the light of Christ and darkness. John writes:
This is the message we heard from Him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
This passage is powerful! If we choose to walk in another direction away from Christ, the darkness can easily envelop us. But if we walk with Him, we have fellowship with Him and others. And the biggest bonus is that we are cleansed as we walk with Him! So why would we want to walk in darkness when the benefits are so great to walk with Christ? I think we fall onto the wrong path because of our choices:
We may choose to be angry or withdraw our love from others.
Become jealous or greedy or moody.
Gossip and tear down rather than build up.
Overeat, overspend, and overthink rather than trusting God.
We don’t fall onto the wrong path away from Christ; we inch away with the choices we make.
Friends, we live purposeful lives when we choose Christ’s way every day; even moment to moment. When we intentionally choose to seek Him first in all of our life decisions, we are able to stay close to Christ, and His light will illuminate our path. Love for you to walk with us in community as we strive to live authentically in Him.
Joanne
