Incandescent Vs. LED
John 8:12 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.”13 So the Pharisees said to Him, “You are testifying about Yourself; Your testimony is not true.”14 Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I testify about Myself, My testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from or where I am going.15 You judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone.16 But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me.17 Even in your law it has been written that the testimony of two men is true.18 I am He who testifies about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me.”19 So they were saying to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.
In our walk with the Lord, Jesus continues to show us how to walk with Him through His Word. But does that Word get in our heart or just in our mind? For so many years I would do my daily Bible reading and walk away "feeling" so spiritual. You know, I did the deed like I was told I needed to do, But then God showed me that was my "human" attempt to "understand" and immerse myself in God's Word. No great revelations. No lasting impressions that changed me..... I am sorry to say I was satisfied with that for far too long.
In the above scripture Jesus was speaking to the religious leaders in the treasury, of all places. The deeper truth Jesus was telling them was something they could not grasp because of their past way of looking at the Word of God and manipulating it to work for them. I guess you could say in their attempt to satisfy their idea of how they should live according to the Word they realized quickly the law was far too hard to live by and they were failing...miserably. This was living from the "human" approach to following God. They were writing their own commentary on the Law of Moses that would compensate for their lack of being able to live it. In their human reasoning they suddenly had to deal with the one who they were speaking to and He "is" the Word of God!!! Jesus was so very intimidating and they couldn't handle it. It is kind of like the little spoiled child who gets caught doing something wrong by his parents. While they are telling him about the fact he is in trouble, the little boy plugs his ears and begins to say "blah, blah, blah" to drown out the pure truth of what his parents are saying. In verse 15 Jesus says "15 You judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone.16 But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me."
You may say "I don't pass judgment!" But in reality we all do, to a certain extent. How is the human judgment thing working for you? Not too good I bet!! If we tap into what Jesus is saying here we will get a pure look at who is supposed to be God and who isn't!! Guess what. "We aren't God!" News flash!! Human reasoning will cause us to try and be Him, and then Jesus shows us in His Word a better, more spiritual way of looking at ourselves. In the latter part of that verse 15 Jesus says this "My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it," The judgment of Jesus is true and ours is false. Our way of thinking is like the old light bulb that dims over time and then dies. In other words, superficial, weak truth. God's judgment is true and real, and like LED lights, which is brighter, and more lasting.
When we surrender our will to Him and truly study the depth of His Word, the Bible, we begin to look at life from a different perspective......God's perspective. The invitation from Jesus is found in verse12 where He says "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." The spiritual result of following Jesus, without excuses and preconceived notions, is we will be "light!" But not just light...His Light!!! The end result of diving deeper into the mystery of God's Word will be us taking on the "Jesus" way of living and that way looks at life, not through rose colored glasses, but through the spiritual eyes that Jesus gives us.
We will not just read the Bible to follow some human way of looking at spirutuality,like the Pharisees. But we will make it "our life" and at every turn be ready to have a spiritual perspective about living this life. The end result will be "LIGHT." HIS LIGHT!! Our light is weak at best, and fades over time. The Pharisees worked hard to justify that their light was good and lasting and they even said in verse 13"You are testifying about Yourself; Your testimony is not true.” Now, that is bold. Telling the Son of God "Your testimony is not true!" They had worked hard at their religiosity for many years to get that bold and say those words. But they are no different than us when we try to live the Word of God from a prideful human perspective that looks good for a while, bu then fades...
To close, keep in mind that there were plenty of "regular light bulb" people who rejected the idea of LED lights, and now they are in the market of selling them. Why? Because they are better! Some believers reject God's truth from God's Word because they are so steeped in their traditions and cannot see that accepting that truth in our heart changes us. Just so you can see, as I came to see. The definition of Pharisee is as follows - a member of an ancient Jewish sect, distinguished by strict observance of the traditional and written law, and commonly held to have pretensions to superior sanctity. Key words to me are ancient, tradition, and pretension. Using God's word to elevate ourselves is fading, so get into the truth of the Word and let it change you at your core and then then true light will be seen. HIS LIGHT!!
Jesus said it this way in verse "14 Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I testify about Myself, My testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from or where I am going.15 You judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone." He said all of this after making a point in forgiving the adulterous woman they had brought her to Him. Paul wrote this in Romans 8:1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
The Pilgrimage Continues.....
David Warren