Take a Walk on the Light Side

Do you hang out in dark alleys? Some of you may be thinking
that is a crazy idea. Some of you may be thinking you would never be caught
anywhere close to a dark alley or any alley at all. On the other end of the
spectrum, some people may be saying, “I am in a dark alley all of the time,
what is the big deal?”

Think about your answer carefully. Don’t answer too quickly.
What is it that is going to make you come up with an answer? Is it your
experience? Is it the idea of the darkness? Will your answer be formed from
unknown or perhaps misinformation or prejudiced information? Does it stem
straight from fears?

Now think through your answer and say it out loud to
yourself.

Lets further explore the darkness according to God’s Word
and maybe we can get a clear perspective on what it is that may evoke certain
thoughts on the matter.

Genesis 1:1-2a, 3—4a In
the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and
empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. Then God said, “Let there be light.”
And there was light and God saw that the light was good. The idea of God’s
creation being good from His perspective is absolutely amazing; it means He
created it the way it was supposed to be, the way that made it all work
together.

1 John 1:1 says, “We
proclaim to you the One who existed in the beginning, whom we have heard and
seen. We saw Him with our own eyes and touched Him with our own hands.”
John goes on to say in verse 5-6, “This
is the message that we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light
and there is no darkness in Him at all. So we are lying if we say that we have
fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not
practicing the truth. ”

In the beginning when God created the light in the world it
was to displace the darkness.  John attests
to the light that he saw. He said he touched Him with his own hands and saw Him
with his own eyes. John also attests to the fact that God is light and in Him
there is no darkness.

In the darkness we cannot see.  That is why there is so much fear in the
darkness.

Do we fear darkness
itself or what may be revealed or exposed in the light?

At night when my kids are fearful, I turn on the light and
ask them point out the things they are afraid of? Usually, there is nothing there.
Then I tell them that the same things are there when we turn the lights outs.
We often times pray for God to take those fears away in the night.

The commentary in NLT Life application Study Bible says of 1
John 1 5-6: Light represents what is good, pure, true, holy, and reliable.
Darkness represents what is sinful and evil. The statement “God is light” means
that God is perfectly holy and true and that He alone can guide us out of the
darkness of sin.

Light is also related to truth in that light exposes
whatever exists, whether it is good or bad. In the dark good and evil look
alike; in the light they can be clearly distinguished. Just as darkness cannot
exist in the presence of light, sin cannot exist in the presence of a holy God.
 

So here is the connection that we can make and a couple of
questions we can ask ourselves.

Because God is light, walking in the presence of a holy God
can do two things, reveal our true selves and give us a peace beyond our
understanding. 

Walking close to Christ and getting exposure to the SON can
expose all of our fears, worries, troubles, faults, insecurities, and sins. All
the things we want to keep “in the dark”.

Is this why you stay away from the light? Is this why you
may have distanced yourself from a real or active relationship with Christ?

I love reading God’s Word but sometimes I am so convicted
that I can’t wrap my head around what God is trying to teach me. I become
agitated and frustrated because I know there is something that needs fixed and
clearly I don’t want my faults pointed out to me.

 A couple of months
ago as I was reading some passages, I just kept feeling agitated. I finally
said God, you are obviously trying to fix something in me so can you do it swiftly;
I am ready to change whatever you are trying to change in me.

I am not always so “adjustable” sometimes it has taken God
years to set me straight. In the mean time He 

allowed me to live with my issues
and let me just deal with the consequences of my hard heart or stiff necked
self.

On the other hand, the light gives us a hope and peace that
we cannot otherwise see. Walking close to God takes our whole heart, mind, and
strength. This is exactly what He wants of us. He wants to make us more like
Him. The benefits of having a close relationship with Christ are so real and immense.

I have had many many times in my life when, on my own, I was
a complete mess. But the moment I turned it all over to Christ he made things
more clear and gave me a peace that I could not have gained on my own.

What hope we can gain walking in the light. Psalm 119:105 tells us, Your word is the
lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.  Do
you need your path lit up? Do you need help and guidance to know which way to
go, which decisions to make?

In the beginning I asked if you would walk in a dark alley,
what did you say? If your answer is never, then 

ask yourself why you would walk
through life in the darkness. Why do you continue, daily, trying to navigate in
the dark?

 Take a walk in the
Word. Take a walk in the light.

Questions to ponder:

Do we fear the dark or what may be revealed or exposed in
the light? Have you been exposed to The Great I Am?

Do you need your path lit up? Do you need help and guidance
to know which way to go, which decisions to 

make?

Please encourage others by posting comments below. SHARE from
your experiences how walking close to the light or completely out of the light
has affected your life or answer the 

questions above.