Walk in the Light

One night, rather late, I was driving home. The power in our neighborhood was out. As I got close to home, I noticed that everything was completely dark. We very rarely see total darkness, but there were no lights in the houses, no street lights, no porch lights and no other cars. It was dark!

I stopped, turned off the car lights, and then turned off the car to extinguish all of the light it was emitting. The entire world around me turned black. I couldn't see anything. I sat there for just a minute, and then started the car again. I realized that I was stopped in our road and that another motorist, if one arrived, wouldn't be able to see me at all.

Two of the lectionary readings for this week mention light:

O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the LORD! Isaiah 2:5

...the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; Romans 13:12

What happens in darkness?

1. We can't see anything -- we can't see where we have been, we can't see where we are going. Following anyone or anything becomes impossible.
2. Fear -- Do we have a deep buried fear of the dark? We feel insecure and worried about what might be coming near us.
3. Insecurity

We need the light of Christ -- to show us where we have been and to light our path to the future. We need the light of Chirst to calm our fears. We need the light of Christ to bring us the security of God's love, grace and forgiveness.

I want to walk as a child of the Light
I want to follow Jesus
God set the stars To give light to the world
The Star of my life is Jesus.

In Him there is no darkness at all
The night and the day are both alike
The lamb is the Light of the city of God
Shine in my heart Lord Jesus.

I want to see the Brightness of God
I want to look at Jesus
Clear Son of righteousness shine on my path
And show me the way to the Father.

In Him there is no darkness at all
The night and the day are both alike
The lamb is the Light of the city of God
Shine in my heart Lord Jesus.

Hymn by Kathleen Thomerson -- Thanks to JtM for finding it for me when all I had was the tune and a phrase.

Images: Sunrise at the high school today; sunset on the river this evening.