Jesus the Light of the World

Living in Florida, we have all seen how bugs are attracted to light. Turn on a light when it gets dark and it will be immediately swarmed by all types of bugs. You will see moths, gnats, mosquitoes, and all types of bugs that are attracted to light. But have you ever wondered why?

Well, turns out that at least for moths, “travel by the glimmer of the moon, by a method called transverse orientation [which] is sort of like us keeping the north star in a certain position so we know where we are,” (borrowed from Nationalgeogrpahic.com).

So you see, the light of the moon is what helps moths navigate life. They orient everything they do based on the position of the moon. The problem is that we have so many artificial lights these days, that it disorients them. They are particularly attracted to bright lights that entrance them. And these lights, shiny as they may be, many times prove to be fatal to these bugs.

Now, why in the world am I talking about bugs and light?

Because, you see, we have the same problem that bugs do. Though we are smarter, we too are blinded by artificial light.

What I mean by this, is that the Bible tells us in John 8:12 “12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.””

You see, we live in a dark and broken world. We go about life stumbling in a dark world. We are lost. But God is his mercy, sent his son Jesus, Emmanuel—God with us— to be the light of the world.

And just as the moon is the light that guides moths, so is Christ for the human heart.

The reason we celebrate Christmas is because on that silent night, the light of the World came to give us not only light but life eternal.

The problem is that a lot of times, we are so entranced with the lesser shiny lights of this world that we are at risk of missing the true light, the light of Christ. We are so comfortable and cozy with the shiny objects of this world that we put ourselves at risk.

Charles Spurgeon, comments in one of this sermons that we are like gnats that are so attracted to the light of a candle that keep flying into it even if it’s burning them.

And so are we with the things of this world.

This Christmas, let us make sure we are not distracted by the lesser lights this world offers at the cost of missing the true and better light. The one that leads to salvation.