In the Light

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

IN THE LIGHT

John 8:12

12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." 

NIV

It is a terrible thing to walk in the darkness, to live in darkness, not being able to see the way to go. It is even more terrible to be in spiritual darkness, not having any vision of the truth about God, about Jesus. Because of the rest of scripture it is evident that some people prefer to walk in spiritual darkness so they can continue to fulfill their every desire, their lust for whatever they want, without restraint or accountability. It is as if because they refuse to believe there is the light, there is no light, therefore why be concerned about it. But some of us, who have lived in that city of darkness and sin, have seen the city of light and life and crossed over to follow Jesus. We live in this light, our lives are exposed by the light and we can see our sin, our failure, our disobedience, our faults, and our inability to enter into eternal life on our own. We see our need for Jesus. If we follow Jesus how could we ever live in the darkness again? Why would we ever look to anything other than Jesus? Why would we try to live according to the Law when we have Jesus? Why would we insist on having lists of do’s and don’ts when we have Jesus? Living in the light surely exposes our faults, and does not excuse them, but the light also washes them as white as snow. Living in the light allows us to see the truth about God, and the truth about ourselves, sinners saved by grace. As long as we follow Jesus we will never have to be concerned about being in the darkness, not being able to see, not being about to have a vision of the truth.  If living in the light means we have eternal life, then living in the darkness means no eternal life, which would agree with death, the second death, perish. How could anyone choose complete total death, both physical and spiritual for a few short years of self-gratification? Is their love for sin that strong, or have they simple been deceived by Satan into believing all good people get to go to heaven, having eternal life? The only way to life is in the light.