I Am The Light

Again, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”

(John 8:12)

Meditation

I never understood what it meant to walk in darkness. There are always plenty of sunlit days, and electric lights during the nights. I didn’t realize my whole existence was being lived in spiritual darkness. It was a darkness of the heart and soul. I heard a few soothsayers claim they had found enlightenment in their Transcendental Meditation routines. I even tried the TM techniques to get me to feeling better about my life. They didn’t work, so I sunk deeper into my little dark world. I thought whatever I did in secret was hidden, and therefore without consequence. I didn’t do those things out in the open where everyone could see. I did them covered in the depths of the darkness of my heart.

Without Jesus lighting my way I was walking in darkness even on the sunniest of days. It wasn’t a darkness that any natural or man-made light source could illuminate. It was a supernatural darkness. It was a darkness that extinguished the light of truth about my sins. It gave the darkness power over me; keeping me from seeing my need of salvation. It was like being blind, trying to find my way through a room full of spinning saw blades. Failed relationships would cut me to the core. Betrayals would slice through my heart like knife through butter. Poor life choices would lead me to walk straight into buzz saws all the time. I knew there had to be a better way, but I continually repeated the same mistakes.

Finally, when I was at one of the lowest points of my life, I heard a man speaking about someone who could light my way. He was telling me, and approximately seven to ten thousand others, about Jesus and how much he loved me. I am no longer spiritually blind because Christ has lifted the veil from my eyes and shown me the light. By choosing to follow Jesus, my sins are brought out of the darkness. They are forgiven and forgotten by God. I can then walk in the light of eternal life, at the side of Jesus, my Lord and Savior. I am free of the darkness that held me prisoner most of my adult life. If you are a prisoner of the darkness, let Jesus shine his light on you and be made free!

Daily Prayer

Dear Lord, we come to declare our love for you. We are in awe of your holiness and the extent of your goodness. You foresaw our need for Jesus, who lights our path for a righteous life. Before we turned our lives over to him, we were stumbling around in the darkness. Since Jesus came into our lives, our hearts are no longer encased in stone. We thank you for that sacrifice to save us when we don’t deserve it. We were like blind wretches falling into one disastrous pitfall after another. On our own, we had no hope of ever avoiding the damage being done by our sinful lifestyles. You have rescued us and washed the scales from our eyes. We can finally see the light of your truth, and just what you’ve done to save us. We hope and pray that we’ll be given the words to convince our loved ones they can come out of the darkness too. Never let us give up on them, but to redouble our prayers on their behalf. Give us a heart like Jesus to love and serve everyone, whether they know you or not. It’s in his name, we pray. Amen!