Thursday, February 03, 2011

Light in the darkness

In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it (John 1:4-5).

The more time you spend in darkness, the more you crave the light. During these long dark days of winter, many start suffering depression because they are not getting enough sunshine. Yet sadly, some get so used to the darkness that bright light becomes uncomfortable to the unprotected eye. How many times have you worn sunglasses on a sunny winter’s day because the dazzling snow was painful to look at?

When Jesus came into the world, it was an epiphany. The light of God was revealed to a world shrouded in darkness. Evil had made the world dark. Ignorance of God had made the world dark. When Jesus came to live with us, He worked to get rid of that darkness. He taught about God to dispel our ignorance. He suffered and died for us to forgive our evil ways. Everything about Him was a revelation, an epiphany of God’s holy light.

Sadly, humanity had become so used to living in darkness that the holy light of God was hard to look at. The light of truth reveals us as ugly and deformed because of the darkness that fills our hearts. In the darkness, we could fool ourselves into thinking we were pretty special; the light of Christ makes that illusion impossible to maintain.

You can respond to the epiphany of Jesus in one of two ways. The best way to respond is to embrace the light, even though it can be uncomfortable; as you get used to standing in the glare of holiness, your eyes will start to adjust and you will learn to appreciate the light that has been missing from your life. The other way to respond is tragically unhealthy; instead of embracing the light from heaven, you can crawl back into the darkness, shutting your eyes so you don’t have to face any uncomfortable truths. You can claim that Jesus is a fraud or just ignore Him altogether; but you need to be aware that such a choice will leave you alone in the cold, unfeeling darkness forever.

Far better to face the light and ask Jesus to help you open your eyes fully to the truth. The Son of God came down from heaven to give you the light of life; His goal is freeing you from the darkness so you can live with Him in the light forever. You need light to thrive and be happy; look to Jesus and let Him fill your heart with brightness.

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