![[Photo of a Scripture verse]](https://www.deankwilson.com/Blog_images/John_3_20a.jpg)
| “Everyone who does evil hates the light…” |
| —John 3:20a |
One of the best accessories provided for a police car is a strong spotlight mounted on the outside of the vehicle and operable by the driver from inside the car. This strong beam of light can significantly disrupt criminals or others intent on doing something wrong.
As a college student working on the fire department, I became friends with a high-ranking officer of the New York State Department of Conservation Law Enforcement Division. In the old days, and before genuine sophistication had significantly transformed the functions of such an officer, he would have been called a “game warden.”
This particular officer was responsible for teaching hunter safety through the western counties of New York State. His territory extended from just west of Albany all the way to the western border with Pennsylvania and Lake Erie. He was a very wise and very dedicated individual. I admired him greatly and found his somewhat dry, even ironic, sense of humor refreshing.
One late evening, when we were talking at the fire house, he got a radio call about some trespassers on state forestry lands. Since he was the nearest officer, he needed to investigate and invited me to ride along.
Soon we were traveling down a maze of dirt roads, deep into the state forestry preserve. Suddenly, we rounded the corner and came upon a vehicle parked in a dense, tree-shaded glen. Immediately, the officer turned on his powerful spotlight and swept the beam across the windshield of the vehicle.
Almost immediately, we could see a scurry of activity inside the car. Two heads emerged. We heard a male voice yell, “Turn off that light!” And then, two partially clothed people started the vehicle, roared around us, and headed out of the forestry preserve.
While we obviously did not prevent a major crime that night, it seems as if we may have interrupted some possible secret activity. We felt we had provided a valuable service. The couple probably thought of us quite differently.
The point: people intent on doing things in secret hate the light. Since a lot of sin takes place under the cloak of secrecy, those who shine a light that penetrates such secrecy often become very unpopular. Light is never welcome when secret activities are afoot.
Jesus put it this way, as recorded in John 3:20-21:
Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.
As we begin a new day, let’s examine our behavior and ask ourselves whether what we intend to do needs to be done in secret. Or, maybe we should limit our plans so that we do only those things that can stand up to a bright light shining on our activities. Almost all of the time, the things we feel we need to do in secret probably should be left undone.
