Friday; October 15

As I was walking out of a convenience store the other day, I saw a T shirt that really caught my attention. Written on the shirt were these words, “We need darkness to see the stars”. Wow! I have known the truth of this principle in the natural world. On more than one occasion I have accompanied by star-loving wife out into the darkest part of our county to enhance the visibility to the night sky, but it never really dawned on me that this is true in our moral and spiritual worlds as well. It is tempting to lament the darkness of the bad times, but one of the “blessings” of this phenomenon is the ability to see the lights that can permeate the darkness. Whether it is the actions that people do or the people themselves, goodness shines brightest when set against the backdrop of evil. I don’t know that we should hope that things will be bad, but when things get bad it helps the good we do to stand out.
One of the common themes of the Gospel of John is the coming of the Light (Jesus). In fact, John introduces us to Jesus by stating, “In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1:4-5). A short time later he noted, “There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.” (John 1:9). Jesus didn’t need much to stand out in our human world, but His nature really shone when set against a world led by the prince of darkness.
Rather than curse the darkness of the world around us today, let’s take a page from the life of Jesus and become points of light. While we shouldn’t pray for the world to become darker just so we’ll stand out, but if it does, that will give us a reason to just shine brighter!

Think About It!

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