April 23
“A little while longer the Light is with you. Walk while you have the Light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the Light, believe in the Light, that you may become sons of light,” John 12:35-36.
On the occasion referred to in the text above, Jesus informed His audience that He would not be on earth much longer. The time was drawing near when He would be taken captive, be given a mock trial, be condemned, and be sentenced to die by crucifixion. He urged His hearers to walk with Him – that is, believe and trust in Him as their Savior – before it was too late. He warned them against being overtaken by spiritual darkness.
Spiritually, by nature, all of us are walking in the dark. Jesus spoke of this: “The Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light,” John 3:19. Whoever walks in the darkness is in danger of losing his way. We are in the dark until we are enlightened by the message of the Gospel, in which Jesus says, “I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life,” John 8:12. The Good News of God’s forgiveness through Christ warms our cold hearts and it opens our blind eyes to see Jesus as our Savior.
Now is the time and now is the hour; the voice of God is calling you and me to come out of the darkness and to believe in the Light – Jesus, the Light of the world. When we believe in Jesus as God’s Son and our Savior, then we have become children of light.
On another occasion, Jesus said, “He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me. And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness,” John 12:44-46.
As Christians, we believe in Jesus as the Light of the world. Now we should walk in the light. Our lives should show that we are children of God. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said to His true followers, “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven,” Matthew 5:14-16.
As Christians, our lives should be a living and a loving testimony to the truths of Christianity. People ought to be able to observe how Christians love one another. This is the emphasis of John in his First Epistle: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the Propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another,” 1 John 4:7-11.
Believe in Jesus, the Light of the world. Walk in the light of God’s Word. Witness for Jesus, the Light, to those who are in spiritual darkness.
“Jesus gives us true repentance,
By His Spirit sent from heav’n;
Whispers this transporting sentence,
‘Son, thy sins are all forgiven.’
Faith He grants us to believe it,
Grateful hearts His love to prize;
Want we wisdom? He must give it,
Hearing ears and seeing eyes.” Amen.