December 4, 2016

Seeking the Light of God

And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God

(John 3:19-21).

God's truth is always represented in the Scriptures as “light.” In contrast to the darkness, in which we may not “see” clearly and may mistake one thing for another, the light shows everything for what it really is. When God speaks, we are presented with the facts: about God, about God’s offer of forgiveness for our sins, and about what God would have us to do. As Oswald Chambers said, “Light is God’s point of view.”

But we don’t always want to hear God’s point of view, particularly when it reveals the need for serious adjustments to be made in our character and conduct. “The light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” Darkness hides much that light would uncover.

So we never make a more important decision than when we decide what our attitude will be toward the light of God. Will we actively seek it and then gratefully welcome it? Or will we run from it and resent the pain that it causes to our conscience?

It may indeed be painful, at least at first, to “come to the light.” If we’ve been in the darkness for a long time, we’ve probably gotten used to a certain kind of comfort, the false comfort that comes not from things being well with us but from our failing to see how seriously off course we’ve been. Darkness has allowed us to live with a false sense of security, perhaps for a very long time.

But light changes all of that. In the light, we see our situation as it is. We see the truth about the gaping chasm between where we are and where God wants us to be. We see the ugly fact of our irresponsibility, our ingratitude, our rebellion. We see our sin.

Our destiny, then, hangs upon our decision about the light. Either we’ll accept the momentary pain of repentance, or we’ll suffer the eternal pain of regret. Jesus said that it is the truth that will make us free (John 8:32). Is that what we seek or not?

I am not judged by the light I have, but by the light I have refused to accept.

Oswald Chambers