Light up the Night
“This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all.”- 1 John 1:5
Recently, I mentioned being a huge Star Wars fan. However, when it comes to Halloween it’s a hard “no” for me. I’ll pass on chasing the kids from house to house at the speed of the Road Runner, getting a stomachache from inhaling sweets, and having to look at the creepy costumes and dark decorations that so many people seem to love.
Just as the darkness is parading everywhere on Halloween night, there is a real darkness that seeks to penetrate and dominate our present lives. The darkness seeks to keep people in a state of confusion, fear, bondage, hate, blindness, and utter chaos. John 3:19 tells us, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of the light because their deeds were evil.” As daunting as the darkness that surrounds us and increases incrementally in our world has become, there is an answer, a beam of hope to show us the way and make us strong in the face of evil.
We need to remember that through Jesus we are given the RADIANT RESOURCE of Light! In John 8:12 Jesus proclaims, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Just as the natural light produced by our sun is a life-giving force, the eternal light provided by our Savior is a heart-changing, path-displaying, faith-empowering, and victory-releasing light! John 1:5 says, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
As much as I dislike all the Halloween hubbub, October 31st will quickly fade away, giving way to the Christmas miracle. Greens and Reds, lights and trees, cards and gifts, carols and shows, peace and joy, will soon light up the night. Today, I am choosing a different costume (sorry Party City), one that the Apostle Paul recommends in Romans 13:12, “The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.”
Allow the light into your heart, walking in it each day and diffusing the darkness in every way!