TO CHEW ON: "If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth." 1 John 1:6
I live on a part of the planet in which, during this season, darkness is increasing daily. I'm talking about life in the northern hemisphere and physical darkness which, from June 21st to December 21st (this year), progressively takes over more of each day. Thus I am no stranger to darkness and can say without hesitation, I prefer light.
The Bible is full of talk about light and dark. Metaphorically light equals life with God and everything good. Today let's look briefly at what the Bible says about the dark.
First a definition: [Darkness - scotia - is gloom, evil, sin, obscurity, night, ignorance, moral depravity. The NT especially uses the word in a metaphorical sense of ignorance of divine truth, man's sinful nature, total absence of light and a lack of spiritual perception. Light equals happiness. Scotia as spiritual darkness basically equals everything earthly or demonic that is at enmity with God" - "Word Wealth" - New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1467.]
A brief stroll through the Bible illustrates some of the things darkness signifies.
- Losing one's way: "...they shall walk like blind men..." - Zephaniah 1:17; "In the darkness they shall be driven on and fall in them" - Jeremiah 23:12; "They are blind leaders of the blind...both will fall into a ditch" - Matthew 15:14; "But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him" John 11:10.
- Imprisonment: "Say to the prisoner, 'Go forth, to those who are in darkness, 'Show yourself' - Isaiah 49:9.
- Death: "...Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death..." - Psalm 107:10
- Natural human preference: "...men loved darkness rather than light" - John 3:19.
- Consequences: - "Therefore you shall have night without vision. And you shall have darkness without divination" - Micah 3:6; "There will be no light" - Zechariah 14:6; "If your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness" - Matthew 6:23.
- Competition: "And the Light shines on in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it [put it out or absorbed it or appropriated it, and is unreceptive to it]" - John 1:5 AMP (See also Psalm 139: 11-12.)
- Choice: "...cast off the works of darkness" and "put on the armour of light" - Romans 13:12; "Walk as children of light" - Ephesians 5:8.
- Opposite (of all God stands for): "...God is light and in Him is no darkness at all" - 1 John 1:5
And it is here John brings us to a point of confrontation when he says, "If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth" 1 John 1:6.
Let's examine our lives today for such darkness. Then let's bring any and all of it into the light so we can live with integrity before God and people.
PRAYER: Dear God, please show me where I'm hiding a dark past, storing dark attitudes, and still doing dark actions. Help me to "cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light." Amen.
MORE: Feast of St. John
Today the church celebrates the Feast of St. John the Apostle. The day's liturgy begins with this prayer:
*************Shed upon your Church, O Lord, the brightness of your light, that we, being illumined by the teaching of your apostle and evangelist John, may so walk in the light of your truth, that at length we may attain to the fullness of eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
