Light

When I see people these days, they most often ask me how I am doing and then tell me I am looking good. I've lost quite a bit of weight, so I think that is mostly what accounts for the complement (but then I hear my color is good, too).

I've been thinking lately about how little it matters how I look on the outside. Of course, it's nice to look good, better for my self-esteem, etc., but it really matters little in the great scheme of things. I have become acutely aware of my own mortality and the futility (not to mention the vanity) of trying to look younger as I grow older. My physical self, threatened by cancer, has, in some ways, become less important to me. Doesn't mean I should not take care of myself, but I feel pretty strongly that I should pay more attention to the things of God. Paradoxically, I struggle so with taking time for Bible study and prayer and the associated necessary self-discipline, while at the same time I long for an intimate relationship with God.

I wonder, if I met the Lord on the street, what He would say to me. Since He is much more concerned with the condition of my heart than my physical attributes, would he look at my heart and then comment on what he sees inside me? What would he see inside me? Darkness or light? Truth or deception? Some darkness, some light, some truth and some deception, I imagine. As long as we are in our fallen state, we will not see clearly or have perfect light. Jeremiah 17: 9 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?"

The more we are in God's Word, the more light we have. Interesting--it seems that the more of God's Word we have in us, the more light we have, the more we see the world differently--easier to grieve for others who do not know the Lord, easier to grieve over injustices and wrongs, easier to see what in our own hearts is not in line with God's will for us as his people..rebellion, idolatry. (By "easier," I don't mean it's easy--it's never easy to see others hurting or to see, albeit unclearly, the sin in our own hearts. I really mean we are more sensitive to these things, essentially, the things of God.) The less familiar or immersed in God's Word we are, the more we (I) desire and pursue the pleasures this world has to offer, often putting them before God.

The Bible--Old and New Testament--is replete with references to light, and most of those references point to our Lord Jesus. Jesus is the light. John 1--In him was life and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it (ESV says instead, "the darkness has not overcome it"). Jesus--"the true light that gives light to every man..." John 8:12--Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

I like to think about Jesus being the light of life. "Life" for Jesus--as well as for those who love him--does not mean only earthly life. It means eternity. Death is just a transition to eternal life, eternal light. We can look forward to the day when "the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: 'Death is swallowed up in victory'" (1 Corinthians 15:54).

Darkness is the absence of light. We, on earth, depend on the sun to light our world. Isaiah prophesies that the time will come when

the sun will no more be your light by day,
   nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you,
for the Lord will be your everlasting light,

     and your God will be your glory. (Is 60: 19)  

I am so grateful today that God has revealed to me the truth and the light of Jesus. I want more of His light in my life.

2 Corinthians 4:6
For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.