Light Pierces the Dark

1 John 1:5-7 NLT - This is the message he has given us to announce 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 living in the truth. 7 But if we are living in the light of God's presence, just as Christ is, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from every sin.

Light always pushes back darkness. We see this all the time by turning on a light. God did so for the world by first creating light to separate day from night. We can’t see the good or the bad if we don’t have the light. We won’t know we are spiritually dark until we come in contact with the light. We will know it when we do whether we are ready to admit it or not.

I knew real Christians when I still walked in the dark. They had a light I did not have. It took me a long time to accept Christ due to a lot of professors of the faith not walking out that faith. They fit in verse six above and did not properly shine the truth for me to see. Once I had my own encounter with Jesus and knew I had to follow him, I went to those real Christians to join their church. I’m not expecting perfection in anyone, but I do expect to see them trying to follow the faith. If they mess up, I expect them to have a contrite heart with God to confess it and ask for help to overcome it. Jesus cleanses our sins if we let Him.

God gave the Law as a guide. Those commandments help us see the light and know how dark we are without it. We can’t win God’s favor by doing them or earn anything for that matter, but we will do them if we truly love God and want to follow Jesus’s example.

Prov 6:23 NLT - For these commands and this teaching are a lamp to light the way ahead of you. The correction of discipline is the way to life.

We need the Law to pierce the spiritual darkness in our hearts so we can see the truth in proper lighting. We need to accept the discipline we receive so we can properly walk and fellowship with Jesus. That is how you are known as His disciple. You may walk ugly at times as you learn, but the world will see if you are truly walking with Him or not.

Are you accepting His discipline? Are you shining His light for the world to see no matter what life throws at you? Do people ask you about it because they see something they are missing? Tell them about it, and no matter what, stick with Jesus through every good and bad thing that happens. The dark will know you are His.