John 8:12

John 8:12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Accepting Christ as the light of the world remains basic to believers. Should anyone ask our beliefs, we might well say that without Christ to sustain us, we would hunger and thirst for righteousness; without him to guide us, we would walk in darkness. Many believers memorized Bible verses as children such as: Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119:105) Jesus spoke the truth when he talked to the people who would not listen and to those who lacked the ability to comprehend the impact of his words for the Spirit of Truth had not yet come. Today Christ speaks to all who will hear his voice, particularly to the church, for his sheep hear his voice. As He said: I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. (John 10:14-16) Yet humans lean toward willful disobedience, experience difficulties listening to and obeying his voice. Recently, we prayed with a person dealing with life-altering dysfunctions and repercussions. This person's analysis bears repeating: "Ever since I became a Christian, I have known that Jesus is the light of the world and his Word is a lamp for my feet, but I have not held that lamp in front of me to direct my path and to show me the way. I let it shine where I wanted it to shine. I held it in back of me on the limited areas I could control. Now I have to find a way to let God take control."

The Holy Spirit continually whispers in our ears. When Christ spoke of a new covenant to restore relationship with God, He emptied himself, becoming a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, rejected of men. He became sin who knew no sin, as a sacrifice pleasing to God for all time. Knowing the price He paid, what it cost the Godhead, many still stubbornly refuse to yield control to God. They compartmentalize their lives, do not take up the cross daily to follow him. They do not say, "Yes, Lord, not my will, but yours be done." They will not trust that He has plans to prosper them and not to harm them. They cannot proclaim this world is not our permanent dwelling place, for He is getting us ready for eternity. The doubters add a "but" to almost every declaration of faith: "Yes, I know Jesus is the light of the world, but you don't know how dark my life has been; I realize He is the bread of life, but my soul is hungry for something more; I believe He is the living water, but I am really thirsty and looking for another well." It is all about Number One: give me, help me, listen to me. God must shake his head. Jesus did not say, "Follow me, and I will make you so satisfied and contented that you will become complacent and never want to leave this earth." No, He called out fishers of men, servants, preachers, evangelists, missionaries, teachers, singers, encouragers, letter writers, card senders, helpers, guides, doers of good deeds, people to visit the sick, prayer warriors who would get up in the night to pray, people who would come early and stay late because someone needs to.

All of Christ's followers died fairly young except John, and the Holy Spirit probably kept him around because he overflowed like an effervescent fountain of God's love wherever he went, as a voice crying in the wilderness. If you were with John, he was talking about the Word, the Word that was with God and was God. He was talking about the light, the light that brings you into fellowship so the blood can cleanse you again and again. You would not have offered John any excuses because not only did he walk with Jesus and know him better than anyone and watch him die, he watched everyone else die. When he was in his early nineties, writing Revelation and his epistles in the Spirit on the Lord's day, church tradition says, they had to carry him into the meetings in a chair because he was too weak and feeble to walk; but we can well imagine him preaching with the same passion of the young man who came alive for God. He accepted Christ's commission and did not forgot the message that turned the world upside down when Jesus called his first disciples: As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” (Luke 9:23) John never forgot his beloved Lord and Savior and his eyes must have burned with fire when he declared, Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

(Mom writing, Dad sends his love as well)