Grace in the Darkness

When my wife and I were first married we lived in a tent for our first summer.  It was a sturdy tent with a good double cover that kept out bad weather but was also very good at keeping out light.  Even in the daytime it was very dim in our tent and by sundown we could only hear each other.  Ever since then my beloved bride has insisted on there being a nightlight in at least the room nearest to us and an open door between. 

Darkness can be very oppressive.  Light is good.  Light is one of the names for Jesus.  He said of Himself, “I am the Light of the world.”  Light means we can see where we are going.  Light means we can see our surroundings clearly.  Light reduces our chance of getting hurt.  Light helps the wonderful world around us grow and produce beautiful and beneficial things. 

Jesus said, however, that men love darkness because their deeds are evil.  Mother’s admonition that nothing good happens after midnight is a valid and biblical truth.  To curb crime streetlights are put up.  Darkness is also metaphorical for times of distress and sadness.  Jesus is the sunlight to penetrate the gloom of our lives.  Jesus is that great Light that lightens the whole world and gives us the opportunity to move from desperation to hope, from sorrow to joy and from the bondage to sin to salvation and freedom.

Not everyone we meet will want the light.  Many will actually prefer to stay in the darkness and work their iniquity.  We can truly see that the modern American culture has become as pagan as anything ancient Rome, Greece or Canaan could desire. But into that darkness Jesus came and called His own out of the darkness and into His marvelous light.  We need to live in that light.  We need to truly appreciate what that light means to us in a dark and unchristian world.  We need to truly radiate that light so that others might see its goodness and that in seeing the light they might come to it as well.    

Philip Bliss wrote the hymn “The Light of the World is Jesus”.  He says in this hymn to the believer, “No darkness have we who in Jesus abide. We walk in the Light when we follow our Guide.”  What a blessing that is for the believer.  What a joy to be delivered from the darkness we see all around us each day.  Therefore, Bliss shouts out the invitation, “Come to the Light, ‘tis shining for thee!  Sweetly the Light has dawned upon me.  Once I was blind, but now I can see – the Light of the world is Jesus.”  Let us so rejoice in the Light and walk in the Light that others might find our Savior – The Light of the World.  

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