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Let us walk in the light of Christ and turn away from sin. May we not be drawn into the spiritual darkness that blinds us to our faults and bad deeds or attitudes. Stay close to Jesus, the Light of the World, and allow Him to illuminate each moment of your life.

“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.”
~ 1 John 4:5-7

Darkness is the absence of light. It isn’t a kind of lesser-light. It is nothing.

Deeds that are done in darkness are the deeds that are done with no accountability, no love of God, no moral framework. It’s not that they can’t be seen by the human eye; rather, there is no spiritual light to illuminate and discern that the deeds are evil. No one present in the ‘darkness’ sees it as wrong — there is no light to determine that it is sin.

Deeds of darkness aren’t sinful deeds done at night time. They are deeds that are done in the absence of the Light of Christ.

When David says in Psalm 27:1, “The Lord is my light and my salvation,” he declares that God has lit up his world and shown him a new perspective of his life. His life was a deed of darkness, but now, with the light of God, he is able to see it for what it is and he has been saved from these patterns of behaviour in the darkness. The light has given him a moral code, that reveals to his heart what sin is.

Here’s an example. Before I was saved, I was bossy and not very kind. I remember when the light of God shone on my life and it became very apparent that my attitude and treatment of others was sinful and displeasing to God. I simply had not seen it like that before. God’s light not only revealed my sin, but disrupted my sin.

Disrupting. Disturbing.

Have you ever walked in on a conversation and there’s this awkwardness, an unsettling? Jesus’ presence did and still does this — for those who are in darkness. The Light of Christ convicts. We read countless stories in the Bible of Jesus ‘turning up’, causing an unsettledness — a number of questions, a stirring in the heart, and then for those who accepted Him, a peace and resolution — a salvation.

We need to turn up with the Light of Christ and disrupt the deeds of darkness, and lead them to the One who brings peace and a resolution — salvation.

“I will make you as a light for the nations. that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” (Isaiah 49:6) – but don’t stop there, look what God says will be a result of being a light…

“Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and His Holy One
— to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant of rulers:
Kings shall see and arise; princes shall prostrate themselves;
because of the LORD, Who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, Who has chosen you.”
~ Isaiah 49:7

The Light of the World — Jesus Christ — will cause people to see, to make a stand and to bow down before Him, acknowledging His Lordship over all.

“I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness,
but will have the light of life.”
~ John 8:12

As Christians, we have the light of life — Christ, in us. We are like a lampstand. We have the Light of Christ — the light bulb. We also, through Salvation, have a relationship with our Power Source — Father God Almighty.

Are we a lampshade that disperses the light effectively, or do we dull it and inhibit its reach?

Are we keeping connected to our power source and removing and turning from sin (power threats)?

Do we turn up? Because you can’t illuminate the kitchen if you are in the bathroom!

“And this is the judgement;
the light has come into the world,
and people loved the darkness rather than the light
because their works were evil.
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light
and does not come to the light,
lest his works should be exposed.
But whoever does what is true comes to the light,
so that it may be clearly seen that his works
have been carried out in God.”
~ John 3:19-21

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Originally published at Ephraim House. Photo by cottonbro.