| “…whoever lives by the truth comes into the light…” |
| —John 3:21a |
In the small town where I grew up, and in the ultra-clean home where my mother scrubbed things spotless every week with major house cleanings twice a year, I never saw a roach until I began to travel for the insurance company where I worked for 30 years. Then, I saw roaches in every brand of hotel, from the five-star hotels to the lowliest of dumps. Fortunately, while I didn’t often stay in the five-star hotels, neither did I often stay in the dumps.
I did see plenty of roaches—well, actually, except on one or two occasions, I only saw a single roach. The roach had probably gotten lost and was simply trying to find his way home.
However, on those very few occasions where I stepped into the bathroom and turned on the light only to encounter dozens of roaches, no doubt gathered for some kind of roach music concert, I quickly learned that roaches do not like the light. Snap on the light and the roaches scatter quickly.
I hate roaches. Oh, I realize they are part of God’s creation—though I can’t for the life of me imagine why He would create such a ghastly creature. I hate them. To me the only good roach is a dead roach. So, it’s easy for me to think of roaches as suitable representatives of evil. And, evil does not like the light.
One of my fondest possessions, left over from my days as a fire protection engineer, is a Streamlight. This is a very powerful flashlight designed to penetrate the smoke from a fire. When you see a firefighter carrying a lantern or flashlight it is probably a Streamlight. Today, Streamlights use LEDs and a very focused lens to create their powerful, penetrating beam. I like Streamlights so much that I bought one for a very good friend as a Christmas present and was pleased by how much he liked it.
Our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, is a spiritual Streamlight. He shines the powerful Light of His holy Presence into the darkness of sin and the sin scatters. That’s what Jesus told his followers, as recorded in John 3:20-21:
“Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.”
As we head out into another day, surrounded by a sin-darkened world, let’s remember that the Light of Christ’s Presence dwells within us by the power of the Holy Spirit. Everywhere we go, we bring the Light of Christ with us. Let’s boldly shine His Light and allow the Holy Spirit to use us as “Light-bearers” all through this day.
Based on a blog originally posted on Thursday, November 17, 2016
