Light

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. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. – 1 John 1:5-10

I love light. As my eyesight has gotten worse and I have to wear glasses I appreciate light even more. I used to be able to see easily in the dark and could actually read a book with very little light. Now, I can barely walk around in the dark without hurting myself. Even with my glasses on I can hardly see in the dark.

Light is an amazing creation of God. After God had created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was formless, the next thing He created was light. Imagine a world of darkness immediately drenched in pure light. This is what we are, darkness drenched in pure light. John tells us in 1 John that God is light and there is no darkness in him. Before we know Christ, we are darkness with no light. Jesus came to bring us light, but darkness doesn’t want to give up too easily. Paul calls this darkness the “flesh” and explains that we must overcome it, because as John says if we walk in darkness we cannot have fellowship with the light.

So how do we overcome the flesh? John explains that we need to confess our sins and Christ will forgive us and cleanse us from unrighteousness. This is step one, but not the end of the matter. In order to have fellowship with the light, we need to walk in the light. I love the visual of walking in the light. This means daily trusting in the Holy Spirit to help us overcome our fleshly desires. It is a team effort, us and God. We cannot do it alone, and God will not do it without us.

Father, please help me to overcome my flesh today and walk in the light so that your light may shine through me.