Light of The World
“For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light”. (Ephesians 5:8)
Light is a very interesting thing to behold, it always looks beautiful refreshing and a great honour to experience. It is always a privilege to be in the light of God, because he has defeated darkness, his light brings goodness into our lives and souls so it must be presented to the world in order to bring those in darkness to the light. This light emanates from Jesus Christ and in him there is no darkness. The world needs the light of Christ because most people are in darkness.
John 3:19 says “And this is the judgement: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil”.
As Christians we have the light of Christ therefore, we should be the light of the world and bring those in darkness to the light. The Lord wants us to be the light bearers of this world therefore our actions must reflect the light of Christ. The world must look up to us because we bear the light of Jesus Christ. As the light bearers we must have nothing to do with the futile works of darkness but rather we must be ready to expose them. Things that are done in secret or in darkness are the things that people are ashamed of and these are the things we are being admonished to do away with. What are the things we do in darkness, what are the things we do in darkness that we are ashamed of? In the God there is no place for darkness because he is the light and everything in darkness will be exposed.
“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all”. (1 John 1:5)
What is done in the light will always be illuminated for all to see and the glory is the Lord’s. There is nothing hidden in the sight of God, he knows our heart, our thoughts and everything we do in the dark therefore he cannot be deceived. This means that everything we do must be done to please him and not man. We must put God first rather than ourselves and our actions must reflect complete goodness, right living and truth. God knows the secrets of our hearts and he will reject us when we do not have a good heart. He does not look at the outward appearance, he investigates our hearts, and it is only him who sees the secrets of our hearts. When Samuel saw Eliab, his concentration was on the outward appearance, so he thought in his heart that it was him, but God said to him
“But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)
Man will always be deceived by outward appearance but God will not, he looks into the heart and rewards accordingly. It is very important that we always allow God to speak to us and obey his instructions so that his purpose for our lives come to pass.
People who walk in the light will always have the spirit of God in them and with them every step on the way. People of the light are always focused on the positives and thank God for everything he has done in their lives rather than always focusing on the negatives. Let us continue to stay in the light of God and our understanding of the things of God will be lighted up. The blind man received his sight through Jesus Christ, but the Pharisees were not interested in the positive thing that had happened in the life of this blind man but concentrated on negatives. Staying positive helps to build us in order to achieve greater things while over reliance on negatives is always retrogressive. Let us always glory in the good and allow God to perfect us and this will make our hearts pure. When we stay in the light of God, we will not be afraid because the Lord will be our shepherd and our wants will be taken care of.
Beloved in Christ, our consistent stay in the light of God will awake us from sleep, we will rise from the dead and Christ will shine on us.
Fr. Josiah Myles Abadoo