The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:5

I recently moved. For almost fifteen years we had lived in the same house. The closets in that house were after-thoughts, really. Especially my upstairs clothes closet. It was cramped and somebody forgot the light. Seriously. The closet was a dark abyss. There was no place for my shoes except buried on the floor underneath my hanging clothes.  Sitting in total darkness, my shoes were not seen unless they were worn. Out of sight out of mind, some might say. 

Let’s fast forward to my recent move. For the first time ever, I got a walk-in closet; one with lots of shelves and an abundance of light. As I was unpacking and arranging my shoes on the closet shelves, I noticed how dirty and worn they were. I was appalled. I thought to myself, “I’ve been wearing these shoes in this condition? I had no idea. Look at that dirt. I need new shoes!”  You see the darkness of the closet hid the condition of my shoes. Without light, I had no idea of their true condition. Now that I knew the condition of my shoes, I was compelled to do something about it. It was time to go shopping!

At this point, you might be wondering what my shoes have to do with Jesus being the Light of the World. Well, let’s break this down.

Light. Light is energy that travels at a breath-taking speed of 186,282 miles per second. When light reaches our eyes, it causes us to see, making what we couldn’t see without it, visible. Without light, we walk in darkness, and in the darkness, we can’t see the truth.  

Jesus, says He is the light, but what does He mean?

When the light of Jesus reaches our hearts, it enlightens our conscience, making the truth visible to us. Without Jesus, we cannot see the truth about our spiritual condition; this truth is hidden in darkness. So just as light caused me to see physically, the light of Jesus causes us to see spiritually.

Once the light of Jesus illuminates our hearts, we become responsible before God.  There is no going back: we must choose the darkness or the light. We either walk into His light or we hide from His light in the darkness of the world. Either way, we are without excuse.

Some whose hearts see the Light are so overwhelmed by the goodness and pureness of Jesus, they recognize that they have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23). The weight of this revelation causes them to fall on their knees and humble themselves before the Lord.  They believe Jesus is who He says He is – they believe in His name. To those who believe “He gave the right to become children of God….” (John 1:12-13) Salvation is theirs. They see the truth and it sets them free.

Others who see the Light decide that they “love darkness instead of light…” and they will not come into the light for “fear that [their] deeds will be exposed”.  They recognize the light, but in their unbelief, they choose to walk away from the light and live in spiritual darkness.  The truth is hidden from them in the darkness and they remain captive to the lies.

The spiritual light of Jesus, just like the natural light of the sun shines on everyone.  It is up to us how we respond: will we walk in the light or hide in the darkness? Jesus desires all of us to walk in His Light. Choose His light today.

For more on the Gospel of John, see The Word Became Flesh and In The Beginning Was the Word and Water to Wine.