Whether you’ve been following this blog series for the past five weeks or this is your first time, I’m glad you’re here today. If you’re curious about what we’ve been talking about, check out the blog archives. If not, no problem, just jump right in.
In John 8:12, Jesus claimed to the light of the world. He did this in the middle of a Jewish festival that celebrated the way God provided light throughout the Israelites’ pilgrimage from Egypt to the Promised Land. Those in the know about Jewish history were taken aback by his very bold claim. They knew in their heart of hearts that He was claiming to be the Messiah and they were not okay with that!
This week’s blog focus is the T letter in the L-I-G-H-T acrostic. Remember … we’re looking into how we should be living to reflect that we are following the Light of the world.
So, let’s review:
To live in the light of life, we should strive to …
• Live a life of LOVE
• Live a life of INTEGRITY
• Live a life of GOODNESS
• Live a life of HUMILITY
• And also to live a life of TRUTH.
Psalm 15:1-2: “O Lord, who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart.”
It should go without saying that living in the LIGHT means allowing the light to shine on all that we do and say so that TRUTH is what we are known for and what we stand for.
I believe that to live a life of truth, we can only do this when we are in relationship with Jesus, who is Truth (remember what He called Himself in John 14:6? “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”)
For some of us, that relationship began years ago … and it is my prayer that we are CONTINUING to walk in His truth and not taking it for granted. In Psalm 86:11, the Psalmist wrote, “Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may WALK in your TRUTH.” Notice that walk is an action verb. The Psalmist didn’t say anything about sitting in God’s truth in this verse. The implication is that we are to moving forward and learning more about God and His truth.
However, not everyone is assured of their relationship with Jesus and are still investigating His story. For those, it is my prayer that the words of another Psalm (145:18) would be heeded: The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on Him in truth.
Jesus’ claim to be the light of the world was mind-blowing to the Jews at the Temple so many years ago. May we too be blown away by His desire to rescue us from darkness and walk with us in His glorious light!
To recap … to not walk in darkness but to walk in the light of life, we are to …
Live a life of LOVE
Live a life of INTEGRITY
Live a life of GOODNESS
Live a life of HUMILITY
Live a life of TRUTH.
Light of the world, You stepped down into darkness.
Opened my eyes, let me see.
Beauty that made this heart adore You, Hope of a life spent with You
Here I am to worship, Here I am to bow down,
Here I am to say that You’re my God
You’re altogether lovely, altogether worthy, altogether wonderful to me.
(Chris Tomlin, Here I Am to Worship)
