Carry the Light
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Carry the Light
Carry the Light
Riddle me this - How do you carry something that you cannot handle? How do you crave something that you cannot see?
Jesus said,
Then Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows Me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.”
You can carry light. Jesus said, in fact, “You are the light of the world” (Mt. 5:14) that I have called out of darkness, to shine before men (1 Peter 2:9; Mt. 5:16). Each of us has the capability to carry light. How brightly it shines, depends upon how close we stay to the source of life.
The Bible records in John 1:4-5 that Jesus is the source of light and life.
Life was in Him, and that life was the light of men. That light shines in the darkness, yet the darkness did not overcome it.
What does the Bible mean “that life was the light of men”? Life is obviously what makes humanity “be”, but where does life come from? The Bible says the “Word”, the Word who was and is God (Jn 1:1-2) and was from the very beginning “in whom all thing were created and have been created” (Jn. 1:3).
The Bible says Light came into the world, to give life, to a world that would not receive the Light nor reflect the Light. Therefore, those in the world, lacked both life and light.
The 21st of December was the night when we celebrate the Winter Solstice according to the Gregorian calender. The Winter Solstice is the time of year we look forward to because it is the time when our nights begin to become shorter and the day longer. It is the time when light begins to push back the darkness. It is the turning point when the heavens declare light the conqueror over the darkness. Winter Solstice is a celebration that Light does not overcome the darkness.
Would it interest you to know that, our modern society did not always follow the Gregorian calender? No we followed the Julian calender at one point, for a long time in fact. And do you happen to know what day the Winter Solstice fell on? That’s right the 25th of December, the day we celebrate and remember Jesus’ birth.
“The Light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it.” -John 1:5
Christmas is the celebration of light piercing our darkness, God’s light, Jesus, coming to us to enlighten our lives.
God, himself, calls us out of the darkness into His marvelous Light! (1 Peter 2:9).
The Incarnation is God himself, moving into our neighborhood, to offer us His life for our light. Jesus testified,
Jesus said to him, “Have I been among you all this time without your knowing Me, Philip? The one who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
The Light of Life is God himself, in Jesus Christ, the divine son, who entered our world to push back the darkness by His wonderful life, given on the cross, so men might have the light of God in their souls, receiving eternal life. Jesus came to drive out the darkness by/through the light of His life.
How do I receive His Light?
By simply professing your belief in Him and your desire to follow Him, confessing your wrongs and short comings to him and thus receiving His forgiveness, because “we all have fallen short of the perfection of God” (Romans 1:21; 3:23) and were/are living in darkness (Eph. 5:8-9).
Jesus would encourage us to do three things:
Accept His Light
Reflect His Light
Live His Light
So…how do I carry his Light?
The prophet Isaiah, ministering to God’s children, who had intentionally, and unintentionally, turned away from God, said this upon the people’s inquiry:
and if you offer yourself to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted one, then your light will shine in the darkness, and your night will be like noonday.
Then your light will appear like the dawn, and your recovery will come quickly. Your righteousness will go before you, and the Lord’s glory will be your rear guard.
The Lord will always lead you, satisfy you in a parched land, and strengthen your bones. You will be like a watered garden and like a spring whose waters never run dry.
How do you carry the Light of Jesus in a world of darkness?
Live selflessly
Do not fear the things of men
Follow the Word, Live the Word and Reflect the Word and Accept the Word.
