Light and Dark

Light and Dark

I faux painted our living room with a very subtle color combination.    As a matter of fact,  even now it’s rather difficult to immediately realize that it has a sponged faux finish.    The end job is really nice,  but I had a terrible time knowing just where I was going while working.    The problem was not so much the subtle color combination, but clouds.

It was a beautiful,  sunny day with big,  fluffy clouds that blocked off the sun every few minutes.    So, one minute I’d be thinking,  “Hey, this looks nice!”    Then, the next minute I couldn’t see whether or not the paint got sponged on.

How vital it is to be in a good light,  so you can see what you’re doing or even where you’re going.    We all know how true that is physically as we stub our toe in the dark.    But, it’s much more essential to have spiritual light.

That is why Jesus says in Matthew 6:22-23,

“The lamp of the body is the eye,  if therefore your eye is clear,  your whole body will be full of light.    But if your eye is bad,  your whole body will be full of darkness.    If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”

What kind of “bad eye” do people have that fills them with great spiritual darkness?    It’s plain ol’ unbelief in the full salvation we have in Jesus Christ,  and…  it’s loving to do evil things.

It’s what Jesus was talking about in John 3:17-21, when He said,

“For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world;  but that the world should be saved through Him.    He who believes in Him [Jesus]  is not judged;  he who does not believe has been judged already,  because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

And this is the judgment,  that the Light is come into the world,  and men loved the darkness rather than the light;  for their deeds were evil.    For everyone who does evil hates the light,  and does not come to the light,  lest his deeds should be exposed.    But he who practices the truth comes to the light,  that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

Jesus said a whole lot in those few sentences.    It is so awesome to know that as we believe in Jesus, we will not be judged — even though we are sinners.    What a relief!    All believers are free from God’s judgment — and, of course, those believers are going to live like free people on this earth.    They will show love,  kindness,  patience,  moral excellence,  forgiveness,  self-control,  perseverance,  faithfulness  and godliness in their everyday life.    They will diligently study God’s word, so as to grow in their Christian living.

True Christians who live their faith are not patting themselves on the back for all their “good deeds”.    They are just glad that God has set them free from their sinful past and they are ever so thankful that God has shown them how to live in the freedom of His love.

But,  what was it Jesus said about unbelievers?    They love their darkness.    They love their evil deeds.    They refuse to go to Jesus,  the Light of the world,  for forgiveness because they don’t want to confess their sins  or  think of their life as immoral.    Little do they realize that God knows their every thought.    They haven’t hidden even one of their evil thoughts.    And it will all be surely judged because they refuse to believe in God’s plan of salvation in Jesus.

On the Internet one can easily come across web sites that claim to be Christian as they love their darkness.    They proclaim their “faith” as a homosexual,  or  as a New Age Christian.    They promote various exercises  or  chants as a way to grow as a Christian.    Some even advocate slavery or spousal abuse.

Rightly,  we think,  “Oh, how awful!    How can they do that and claim to be Christian?”    Certainly, those people are lost;  but, we need to constantly evaluate our own “Christian” life.    Do we slander,  gossip,  lie,  think porn is okay,  condone our greed and lust,  or cheat “just a little”,  etc.?

These sins cloud over our light in Jesus.    They blind us to the meaning of salvation in Christ.    Let’s get rid of the dark clouds of sin in our lives so we can see the marvelous freedom we have in Christ.

We have the freedom to live in godly love.    Let’s grasp it before we lose our salvation.

Love,   Margaret