Today's scripture focus is John 12:44-50
44 Then Jesus cried out, “When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. 45 When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. 46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
47 “As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. 48 There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn himat the last day. 49 For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. 50 I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”
I love texts that talk about Jesus being the light. John's gospel has many themes and one of those is light. The text I highlighted talks about believers in Jesus being in the light, or rather, those who believe not being in darkness.
My son is 3, will be 4 in September. He's been in a big boy bed since after he turned two. Before we put him in a big bed he would stand in his crib after he had woken from a nap or nighttime asking to get out. We put him in a big bed in hopes that he'd just get himself out. That didn't work. He still will lay in bed and yell for us, asking to get out of bed. And I've figured it out. He doesn't want to get up and move around in the darkness. He doesn't like the dark. The dark is scary, it can be dangerous, it holds the unknown.
This text says that Jesus came so that those who believe in Him wouldn't stay in darkness. People who haven't come to belief in Jesus are in total darkness. And in theory, when they come to Jesus they are in total light. But when I am honest with myself I have to say there are areas that I haven't shed light on yet. I am choosing to keep those areas in darkness. Why am I choosing the fear of darkness rather than the warmth of light?
What areas of our lives do we need to expose? Why are we so afraid of letting them come to light?
Tomorrow's scripture focus: John 13:1-20
Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Psalm 1-2; 15; 22-24; 47; 68
2 comments:
Well said!! That's something we all struggle with for our entire lives. My prayer is that I will be actively looking for those dark areas and helping God's light to inform, cleanse, and show me what to do about the spiders I find hiding in the dark corners of my heart.
So true Kathryn. I think we all have those dark corners that we are hiding - some intentionally, and some of which we are not even aware. We need to pray, like Elisa said, continuously - we never "arrive" in this area, I don't think.
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