Proverbs 4:18 “But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.”
One winter’s evening, back when I was about 9 years old, I went outside to play in the woods behind our house. The sun had set about 20 minutes earlier so the night was quickly approaching, but I went outside anyway. I had the mindset to make a snow fort or something similar, and I had gathered up a bunch of sticks into a pile and began to use them to form the structure of my fort, packing snow around them to lock them into place. By the time that I had somewhat of the main part of the fort completed, I realized that it had gotten very dark, but as I looked around I realized that I wasn’t completely sure where home was. I knew that I was close, but it had gotten so dark that I couldn’t really tell where it was. But then my eyes caught sight of something. Out there, in the dark, I saw a light from the kitchen. One single bright light, shining through the branches of the forest. I set my gaze upon that light, and I soon returned back home.
Out of the darkness of the woods, that light showed me the way home.
Isaiah 60:1-3 “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.
For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.”
Just as the prophet Isaiah wrote, darkness has covered the Earth, a spiritual darkness that lies on the souls of man. You do not need to look very far out into the world to realize that this is definitely not a planet filled with the Spirit of the Lord. Murder. Lies. Fornication. Drunkenness. Strife. Fightings. Need I write more? Pride. Hatred. Maliciousness. Idolatry. Sin has spread across the face of the Earth like the clouds darken and block out the sun. Sin and evil are always compared to darkness in the Bible, while to walk in the light means to live and abide in the teachings of Christ, free from sin.
Many people are currently walking in the darkness of their sins, and they don’t want to be told that they are doing what is wrong. They love their sins, and don’t want to have to change, so they don’t come forward to be forgiven. But the truth is that if they don’t change they are essentially condemning themselves.
John 3:17-21 “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.”
Jesus doesn’t want us to perish because of our sins. He wants to save us, so that we no longer walk in darkness but instead can walk in the light.
John 8:12 “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
1 John 1:5-7 “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
When we become a Christian we become “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14) and we are just like that light that I saw out in the woods that night, shining bright for all to see. There are sinners everywhere that need saving, and we can be a part of leading them to Jesus through our faith in action. This was the Lord’s message to Paul when he became converted. I really find it so incredible, but the Apostle Paul literally saw the light at his conversion, and he became one of the Lord’s greatest servants, dedicating his entire life from that point onward to the furtherance of Christ.
Acts 26:18 “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.”
Paul truly was a shining light in this dark world, and through his writings he has led countless people into the Light. He let his light shine, so that others could see. We need to do the same. We need to let our lights shine in this dark and sin-filled world, so that they too can find their way to the Light.
Matthew 5:14-16 “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
In Christ
Andrew
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 