Children of Light

Last night, my nightly Bible reading brought me to the book of John, chapter 12. While reading through this chapter, God brought two things to my mind. The first occurred when I read verse 36. “Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.” The second thing God brought to my mind occurred when I read verses 42-43. “Yet at the same time, many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees, they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved human praise more than praise from God.” Ready to hear my thought process from last night?

The first thing my mind went to upon reading these verses is a power outage. During a power outage, what would you use for light before you had your cell phone? My household would always use push lights. We would hang one of those things up on the wall in each of the rooms. I needed more light at times, though. So, you know what I did? I would place little mirrors in such a position that they would reflect the light from the push light onto an area of the room that the push light did not reach. Boom. Even more light! Guess what?

We are the mirrors.

We see God’s light. We believe in His light. We have His light, for His light is living in us. But are we children of the light? Are the mirrors reflecting the push light? You see, His light is shining on us and lighting up our path, pointing out the way we should go. Are we listening to his guidance, following the path lit up? To reflect the push light’s light, the mirror needs to be on the path of light already provided. The mirror needs to be facing the light. When we walk in God’s light (facing Him, in that our focus is on Him and we’re following Him), we reflect His light, revealing the truth and sharing God’s light with those still stumbling in the dark.

Verses 42-43 reminded me of the backside of a mirror. In that, yeah God’s light is seen, the mirror is in the light’s path. People like those in these verses see God’s light, they believe in it, are on its path, and are touched by it, but their backs are to the source of light. Instead, the mirror is facing the dark. Instead of God, the focus is on others and their praises. These individuals are afraid of rejection, ridicule, and how admitting to the belief in God would affect their relationships and livelihood. Ultimately, the mirror does no good facing away from what it’s supposed to reflect.

So, here is what God put on my mind last night. The first is to stay on the path. To not turn to the left or the right, but focus on Him, to reflect Him. To be a child of light, shining His light onto those all around us. The second thing God put on my mind is that no matter the pressure, fear, or persecution we may face, we should always acknowledge Jesus Christ as our Lord and King. Let us be genuine disciples, doing our part in making even more disciples. Let’s contribute to lighting up the world.

Is your mirror facing the light?

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Featured Image by Dewang Gupta on Unsplash