“Then Jesus spoke to them saying, ‘I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” John 8.12, NASB
Light of the World
Light of the world
Treasure of heaven
Brilliant like the stars
In the wintery sky
Joy of the father
Reach through the darkness
Shine across the earth
Send the shadows to flight
Light of the world
From the beginning
The tragedies of time
Were no match for your love
From great heights of glory
You saw my story
God you entered in
And became one of us
Sing hallelujah
Sing hallelujah
Sing hallelujah
For the things he has done
Come and adore him
Bow down before him
Sing hallelujah
To the light of the world
Light of the world
Crown in a manger
Born for the cross
To suffer, to save
High king of heaven
Death is the poorer
We are the richer
By the price that he paid
Light of the world
Soon will be coming
With fire in His eyes
He will ransom His own
Through clouds He will lead us
Straight into glory
And there He shall reign
Forevermore
Words and music by Ed Cash / Martin Cash / Franni Cash / Scott Cash / Andrew Bergthold © 2020 Alldrop Music
CCLI 879072
I like memes. If you are not part of the online or social media world, memes are photos that have words or statements typed on them. They typically make a satirical point. Before COVID19, one of my favorites was a picture of a woman rubbing her hands together with the statement, “The most effective ingredient in hand sanitizer is paranoia.”
A recent meme says, “Some of you never held a flashlight for your dad and had him yell at you for not shining it in the right place and it shows.” Every son who has experienced that knows the sting and every father who has asked their son to hold the flashlight has uttered the shout!
The reality is that we need light. There is a reason that the ancients learned to reflect fire in a room in order to see. There is a reason that the ancients learned to use fire on a stick as a torch. There is a reason that Thomas Edison worked tirelessly to develop a renewable, electric light bulb.
There is also a reason why Jesus came in the flesh. Light and darkness is a major theme in the writings of John. Throughout his Gospel, his three letters, and the Revelation, we see the battle of light and darkness played out. We live in utter darkness in this world. Sin created a void of light.
Jesus comes and shines His majestic light in our world. Where dad may have yelled at you for not holding the flashlight in the right spot, our heavenly Father yelled from heaven His great love for us by sending His light into the right spot…the darkness of our world, the darkness of our hearts.
The promise Jesus makes is that we will not have to walk in darkness if we are in Him. We have the light of life. We have Him!
There are so many times that we get it backwards and struggle to find up from down. That is where His light shines. He tells us in James 1 that if we lack wisdom, we go to Him. His light shines in our darkness, not just to save us, but to direct us in His way.
Today, when you step out of the right spot, God isn’t going to yell at you to shine the flashlight in the right place. Instead, He will be the light that shines on the way that we walk in Him. He will be the light that we show to the world!
Pray: Jesus, You are the light! You have shone the glory of heaven into the darkness of my heart. Thank you for your great love. Show me today how I can light the world by reflecting You.