Light

We live in a world of darkness, but we carry the Light of life, who is Jesus. In the early church, there were times of drifting, and the result of some of that drifting was becoming more 'worldly' or dark. The Apostle John wrote a letter to remind the church to live in the light and not in the darkness. John was not speaking as someone who had not seen and touched Jesus, but someone who saw Him with his own eyes, so his credibility was confirmed by the evidence of his life. 1 John: 1 We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life.² This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. ³ We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. ⁴ We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy.

There is great joy for the believer who lives in the light of Jesus and we live in that light by studying and understanding His Word, because Jesus is the Word!! As John continues on in his letter, he explains why we can be assured that living in the light is the best course of action. 1 John 1: ⁵ This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. ⁶ So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. ⁷ But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. John further confirmed that if we are truly 'children of light', then we cannot live in the darkness anymore!!

The Holy Spirit convicts us of this darkness compromise, and the Word tells us how to come back to the light. The light is good, and Jesus is the light, and He helps us stay out of a compromised life that includes both light and darkness. We are compelled and commanded to 'live in the light of life', which is Jesus. The way to come back to living in the light is shown in 1 John 1: ⁸ If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. ⁹ But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. ¹⁰ If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.

Come back to the light, and the light will restore your faith and get you back on track,

and the world will no longer control how you think or live.

The Pilgrimage Continues,

David Warren