1John 1:5 – 7 “And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you: God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
The darkness was impenetrable that night in Saboba in northeastern Ghana. Twenty – seven years ago, we had no electricity, and I was riding a bicycle with a faulty light. To make matters worse, the path was uneven and full of potholes. Suddenly I found myself pitching forward as my front bicycle wheel caught on something. Blessedly, I didn’t break any bones, but I certainly left some skin from my hands and knees on the road! It would be five more years before electricity actually made its way to our village, and in the meantime we all had to cope. I have delivered babies and sutured wounds by the light of a kersene lantern. I have started drips (IV’s) by torchlight. Once you have had to live without electricity, you REALLY appreciate light!
What is the speed of darkness? The speed of darkness is the speed of light. When light comes in, darkness must flee. When John the Apostle was writing these words, his readers could readily identify with the importance of light. In those days, most homes depended on small oil lamps that cast a small amount of light in a limited area. The only time there was full light in any area was during the day.
Why is it that “God is light and in him is no darkness at all?” God is completely holy, without any stain of sin. When I was a kid growing up on the farm, we had a small creek below our house. The creek had very little water; however, there was plenty of mud. Once we were playing and I attempted to help a small cousin over the creek by throwing him to the other side. Unfortunately, I wasn’t as strong as I thought, and my cousin and I both wound up completely covered with mud! Mom wouldn’t even let us in the house. We had to stand by the back door while someone poured buckets of water over us and then strip off our muddy clothes. Did Mom love us? Yes, she did. But could Mom let us into the house covered with mud? No.
God loves us and wants us to be with Him. But we all have choices. We can choose to pursue righteousness and holiness, to study God’s Word, to pray, and to ask God to change us into His likeness. OR we can go our own way, deluding ourselves that “we are really good people and anyway, God isn’t REALLY going to reject us.”
Isaiah 64: 5-6 says “You welcome those who gladly do right, who remember Your ways. Surely You were angry, for we sinned. How can we be saved if we remain in our sins? Each of us has become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags..”
Romans 3:23 says “For all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God.”
“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
By ourselves, we are sitting in darkness, deluding ourselves that we are creatures of light. We are all small children covered in mud that no amount of water will remove. But God has made a way for each one of us to leave the darkness behind. How can we really walk in the light? We must confess to God that we are sinners and that we cannot do anything to free ourselves. We must ask Jesus to come into our hearts and clean us from our sins. And then we must follow Jesus and stop repeating the behaviors we followed when we were in darkness.
PRAYER: Father God, we confess that we are sinners and that nothing we can do is good enough for us to earn our way into heaven. We thank you that Jesus died for our sins on the cross at Calvary. Please forgive our sins and help us to live for you for the rest of our lives. Amen.
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