Light of the World

Each year as we enter into the Christmas season, I like to spend time pondering the different names of Jesus.  One of my personal favorites that Jesus calls himself is “Light of the World”.

Light is a major theme throughout Scripture-especially contrasting light and darkness.  This contrast is first made in Genesis 1 as God speaks light into existence and therefore separates light from darkness. However, as sin came into the world, mankind has lived in darkness. And that means we stumble around. We can’t see truth; we can’t see beauty.  And the darkness conceals.

Sin has caused us to live in the darkness, but throughout the Old Testament we have this promise of a great light that would come into the world and would push back the darkness.

In the Old Testament we see God using light as a sign of His presence; not only in the temple, but also in the wilderness leading the Israelites.  The people of the Old Testament received only a small taste of the Light which was to come.

For centuries of the Old Testament, we have only small glimpses of this Light. And for 400 years between the Old Testament and the New Testament, we have silence. No word from God. No cloud. No pillar of fire. No light of God to light the way of His people. And the people fall into despair and hopelessness.  But then we get to the New Testament and light explodes.  Jesus enters the world and changes everything.

“In him was life, and that life was the light of men”. John 1:4

Light reveals what the darkness conceals.  It enables us to see the things we were oblivious to while we were in darkness.  Without Christ, we remain in darkness. Light exposes our hearts. When we pursue Jesus and His light, He uncovers our sin. He is the light of the world.  Whoever follows Him will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. (John 8:12)

Let’s rejoice, for the Light of the World has come and we are forever changed because of Him!

 “For you were once in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.  Live as children of light.” Ephesians 5:8

Find Rest

Do you ever find yourself weary from just living day to day life in a broken world? Lately there’s been so much going on in my life that I feel like I am never quite able to accomplish everything that is needed.  I’ve felt inadequate, frustrated, and just flat out tired.  (Not to mention SUPER over the political rantings and ridiculousness in our nation.) 

This is what happens when we try to live life on our own; we find ourselves discouraged and exhausted.  When I get to this point, my first response is to basically shut down and block out anything that is not a necessity; survival mode. 

But we were meant to live in community with God and His people; not hiding out in our homes because we “need a break”.  (Side note: Jesus did take time away for Himself to seek the Father, but He didn’t hide from real life.  It’s okay to rest and take refuge in Him.)

God, on the other hand, never sleeps or slumbers.  He does not grow weary.  His strength does not diminish.  He is the inexhaustible God; the fountain that never runs dry.  

In the middle of my most recent “woe is me, life is hard and the world is terrible” phase I was in the middle of working my way through the book of Matthew.  That day in particular, I happened to be in Matthew 11.  

If you’re like me, then you’ve read the chapter many times and have probably quoted for yourself “his yoke is easy and his burden is light”.  We like to remind ourselves of the nice things the Lord offers to us, don’t we?  But how often do we focus on the instructions?  The action steps He calls us to?  

We have a part to play in experiencing the rest Christ has to offer.  Jesus beckons: “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:28-29 

Come to Him.  Take up His yoke.  Learn from Him.  Find rest. 

God calls us unto Himself.  May we experience more of who He is and find rest.

Let Him Be A Man

Back in my college days and early 20’s I was just as “I can do anything a man can do” as the next gal.  (In fact, with being a Ministry Major in college, men outnumbered me tremendously and I took great pride in excelling beyond them academically.)

I’ve spent quite a bit of time in the Word since then studying gender differences along with our biblically defined roles and I’ve come to one major conclusion: I can’t do everything a man can do and I don’t want to.

Men have a high calling and that’s a lot of pressure.  They were created to give; to serve; to protect; to lead.

Now don’t get me wrong here, women aren’t meant to be yielding airheads that have no value and lack the ability to be self-sufficient.  But we’ve somehow managed to make everything about us and the poor guys can’t win for losing.

If a man tries to do something for us, we feel the need to “prove” that we can do it for ourselves. But once we’ve nagged and exasperated guys to the point of them no longer trying or desiring to do nice things for us, we complain about how they not very gentlemen-like.  Ladies, we can’t have it both ways.

At the previous church that I worked at, I had a super precious co-worker, and bless his heart, his momma raised him right.  But as I said before, at that point in my life, I felt the need to prove myself and wouldn’t let the poor man do a single thing that I could do for myself.  To be honest, there were even times that I did parts of his job before he had time to just so I could “out work” him.

Well, one day this co-worker and I were heading back into the office (which required a keyless card entry) and we both rushed toward the door to open it.  Fed up with my belligerence, he steps between me and the door, looks me in the eye and says “Wesley, let me serve you in this way.”  

That was a game changer for me.  He wasn’t looking for ways to lord over me or exert his authority. He was trying to serve me.

Ladies, we have nothing to prove here. Men weren’t intended to be our competition; they were meant to be our companions.