“This Little Light of Mine” stands out as a great song. In one ministry Shawn and I invested our Sunday mornings in a room filled with children eager to learn something new from God’s Word, and that song held an honored spot near the top of the favorites list during our praise time. All those tiny index fingers pointing heavenward as Shawn touched hers to one child who quickly turned to his neighbor and so on until all our pretend torches blazed brightly. And we pledged each Sunday not to allow Satan to blow that light out. Precious memories.
Light holds a fascination for me. The way it creates and moves shadows. The magic of white light exiting a prism as a rainbow spectrum. The science of focusing the sun’s rays into a point to ignite a fire with a magnifying glass. The response of my seedlings and plants to LED grow lights, and then later to the sun itself out in the garden. Wow! What power from something so far away!
But back to the song. In the context of the song light refers to our reputation also called our testimony in Christian circles. Where does our light originate? Here’s the three word answer: God is light. A simple sentence indeed, but a veritable encyclopedia of truth. My deportment should stand out because God has changed me on the inside.
This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.
1 John 1:5 NASB Emphasis added
We bask in the sun’s warmth, and for those of us awake at night, we marvel over the moon’s transitions through its stages. God included those lights in His creation, and they broadcast a message about the power and necessity of light. The sun and moon are revelations to us of God’s reality.
God’s revelation to us
God has revealed much in His Word about Himself and His nature as light. Here’s a sampler, and I urge you to dig in to learn more.
| God is my lamp. | 2 Samuel 22:29, Psalm 18:28 |
| God illumines my darkness. | 2 Samuel 22:29, Psalm 18:28 |
| God’s countenance is light. | Psalms 4:6 |
| God is my light and my salvation. | Psalms 27:1 |
| God’s light allows me to see light. | Psalms 36:9 |
| God’s light guides me. | Psalms 43:3, Psalm 89:15, Psalm 119:105 |
| God is a sun and a shield. | Psalms 84:11 |
| God’s word illumines my understanding. | Psalms 119:130 |
| God will be the only light needed in His kingdom. No sun. No moon. Just Him. | Isaiah 60:19, Isaiah 60:20, Revelation 21:22-23 |
In the next paragraphs we will capture three broad areas where God and His nature as light are crucial to our living the rich and full life He intends for us, just as Jesus promised.
“…I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
John 10:10 NASB Selected
Guidance
I recall the day in January 1977 when I stared out a rain-streaked dorm window and confessed to God that I could not do life without His guidance. So many far-reaching decisions to make, myriad complex problems to solve, and the pressing need to decide on my personal code of conduct for life. Who am I? Why am I here? What will I be like? How will I conduct myself? Deep thoughts for a nineteen-year-old, and now, nearly fifty years later, my need for His guidance remains paramount, though many colossal choices are behind me.
Times of uncertainty act like darkness and have a way of revealing our need for direction, for counsel from outside our own minds. We need light to find our way. Imagine Moses and the Israelites as they embarked on their cross-desert journey. God stood ready to guide in a miraculous way, if only they followed His direction.
The LORD was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.
Exodus 13:21-22 NASB
I haven’t seen a pillar of fire or a cloud pointing the way for me, but I have another compass, the Bible. And God packed those pages with illumination.
The unfolding of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.
Psalms 119:130 NASB
Should I or Israel or anyone else for that matter eschew God’s guidance catastrophe results. Without the light of His wisdom to show the way, I stagger and stumble as Job described.
“They grope in darkness with no light, And He makes them stagger like a drunken man.
Job 12:25 NASB
But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
1 John 2:11 NASB
We must turn the Light on to find the correct path.
Protection
Our world is filled with lights of all shapes, sizes and colors. Some convey useful information while others exist only for decoration. Still others offer a level of protection if we heed the illuminated warning. As believers we face a diabolical enemy who can disguise himself to appear like something wholesome, something that might bring benefit to our lives. He puts on his mask and fools the best of us. And God left us a flashing warning light.
No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
2 Corinthians 11:14 NASB
Deception is Satan’s stock-in-trade. That tantalizing offer he dangles before us might be false teaching masquerading as truth. Or a relationship that distracts us from our devotion to God. Or the promise of riches and fame if we compromise our standards. Author and Bible teacher Charles Swindoll spells deception out for us.
“Deception is the act of making something that is false look true…Deception has to do with making something that is useless, false, and even dangerous appear to be good, healthy, and valuable[1].”
As we arrive at an opportunity, we must develop the habit of consulting God and His Word. Pay attention to the uproar of those unsettling doubts in our hearts. Talk to God about them. Pray over the situation, and take time to analyze the options and consequences. With this approach we may get better at recognizing and avoiding Satan’s ploys.
Be on guard
But be on guard. Satan will do all in his power to make the opportunity so tantalizingly appealing that we are tempted to rush ahead without consideration. He hates for us to seek out God’s light because that light exposes Satan’s deception.
“For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
John 3:20 NASB
But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light.
Ephesians 5:13 NASB
David’s journey to the throne of Israel followed a serpentine and rocky path strewn with danger and snares. He knew he could not go it alone and sought God’s illumination to discern the best route.
For You light my lamp; The LORD my God illumines my darkness.
Psalms 18:28 NASB
My childhood included many night hikes, and we learned to use the flashlight to keep watch for trip hazards in front of our feet as well as to maintain our course to the destination. Near and distant—both had to be scanned and tracked with course adjustments as needed. None of us wanted to trip or to get lost in the woods. The light served as our protection.
Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
Psalms 119:105 NASB
Insight
Remember those text books that had the answers to the odd numbered problems in the back? By show of hands how many of us on occasion used an answer and worked backwards to solve the problem? Knowing the answer upfront offers a huge boost in the exercise.
The professor in one of my engineering classes led us through a difficult section and commented several times about a particular author and book in the library with the suggestion that “we ought to check it out for a more detailed handling of the topic before the test.” He had taken the consideration of placing the book on reserve so it remained available to inquiring minds who desired to know more. I visited the library, rarely a crowded place on campus, and captured copious notes from the specified chapters in that book. And on the test, to which we could bring our notes, I found many of the same problems solved in the library book.
Life includes many puzzling scenarios, but God knows the answers. Not just the odd-numbered ones, but all of them. He has complete knowledge of the past, present and future. To use an apt descriptive term, God is omniscient. And He willingly points the light of His illumination across our dilemmas, if we include Him in the deliberations.
“It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, And the light dwells with Him.
Daniel 2:22 NASB
Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”
John 8:12 NASB
If you possess a “red letter” Bible these next words are in red to show they came from the Savior’s lips.
“While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.”
John 9:5 NASB
My turn to shine
Imagine the changes Jesus introduced as He ministered in those three short years. His earthly ministry had a beginning point and an ending point. After His death and resurrection, He returned to heaven. Does that mean the light He shared snuffed out? That it’s now gone, and we’re left to feel our way in the darkness? No. Jesus had anther plan.
“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 5:16 NASB
God is light. True. Jesus came as the Light of the world. Again true. And now? Jesus shared the light with us, and He expects us to reflect God to the world around us.
so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world,
Philippians 2:15 NASB
Hmm! Shine my light to show God to a darkened world. A heavy responsibility, indeed. Each one must answer this question for himself, “How am I doing at reflecting God’s light in my location?”
[1] Swindoll, Charles R. The Swindoll Study Bible. Carol Stream: Tyndale House Publishing. 2017. p 972.
Image sources:
- Lighthouse: ClickerHappy at Pexels
- Sunrise: Pixabay at Pexels
- Candle: Aurora K on Unsplash
- Fog: Art Almighty on Unsplash
- Cave: Juliu Illes at Unspalsh
No Comments Yet