It is my burden and that of others, for those who are lost. I imagine it's like after you've just turned out the light and there is no other light to see. It is dark. You stretch out your hands and fingers to feel about for whatever you might run into. You gingerly take each step, hoping to not stub your toe. You are blind. You can't get anything done, because you can't see anything to do anything! This is really terrible if you have to go to the bathroom. This is no way to live. And it pains me to know that there are people living like this. They are lying to others and themselves when they say they don't need that Jesus crap. They are choosing to be blind. Or there are those who just don't know there is a better way. They don't know there is light, they don't know what it is like to live in the light. To be free to move about, to not stub your toe, or worry about what you don't see. Can you imagine? There are people who just don't know about the light we know. Amazing.
That's why I love the first couple of verses of Isaiah 9:
The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.
"Living in the land of the shadow of death..." That is such a strong expression of despair and hopelessness. And without Christ we are hopeless. We cannot see the wall on which the light switch is to turn on the light. We have no idea on how to illumine our world. Or we don't even know that there is something better.
This portion of scripture really reminded me of the hope we have in Christ. And I love that God used the word 'dawn'. The other day I was out at 5:30 am to run. It's dark. Very dark at that hour. Things that I saw in the daylight were scary and different at that hour. I saw things that made my heart beat faster than running up a hill. Then felt ridiculous when I found out they were a bush or a shrub. I took no light with me and trusted that once again, eventually, the sun would rise. But it never just turns on like an overhead light. Rather it creeps upon the land. Slowly coloring the eastern sky with a slight pink and then spreading out upon the ground, trees and houses with it's light. But it's gradual and you might miss it if you aren't looking for it.
And so it is with our walk with Christ. The closer we get to Christ the more light dawns on us. The more we know and see and are walking in liberty. The more we begin to realize how precious our hope is. Oh we know it at first, but then we begin to more fully absorb it. It is true, our walk is a process, it is a dawning.
Father God I am truly grateful that you don't give up on us. I am grateful that you are the author and perfecter of our faith. You give us hope. You give us light to walk in freedom. Thank you for your provision. Amen.
Tomorrow's passage: Isaiah 11-13, Ephesians 2
4 comments:
Thanks for those word pictures Kathryn. I love those verses too.
Great post, Kathryn. Love your last paragraph before the prayer. I thought I knew everything, or at least a lot, about being a Christian from going to church and Sunday School all the years I was growing up. Now, over the last 1 1/2 + years, reading and participating in this blog, I realize how little I knew, how much more I understand now, and how much more there still is to learn.
Miriam, I've had the same experience! I think what blows me away is my attitude before this blog started ~ that I'd heard all the stories, knew all the "important" parts, etc. because, after all, I've been church-attending Christian all my life! And yet, when I really started digging in and STUDYING, I realized how foolish I'd been and how little about God I really knew.
That makes 3 of us! And, to my shame, I even felt that way a little bit after the first year of doing this blog - what was the point of doing it again? Really?! Like I had now tapped out all there was to learn? The Word of God is living and active and it is impossible to truly plumb it's depths. But as we continue to do so, we learn and grow in ways we would never have imagined!
And, above all, God is glorified!
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