Jesus the Light (cont.)
We are looking at the verse found in John 8:12, where Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life.” As we said previously, the way to not walk in darkness is to follow Jesus, who said He was the Light of the world.
This is what one commentator said about light: “Each day, the sun rises to warm, illuminate, and provide growth on earth. The moon and stars light the night, serving as navigators long before smartphones. We reach for the light-switch when we enter a dark room, and we depend on our accumulation of knowledge to shed light on our lives. Light permeates into every crack and crevice of our lives and beings, whether visible, tangible in regard to warmth, or metaphorically enlightening. The origin of phos describes how light makes manifest, evident, exposed or clear.” (Meg Bucher)
Since God is light, then all light proceeds from Him. Outside of Him is darkness. People who live without God in their lives, live in darkness. Simple but fact! However, because of Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection His light can shine forth in our heart and life and dispel the darkness of sin and evil. We don’t have to live under the spell of darkness. We can live in His light. And we can walk in the light of His Word and Will.
The condition of having this light to live in, to walk in, is what Jesus said in the verse above. The condition is following Him. The word ‘follows’ is in the present tense indicating that it is a continual ever-present thing. It’s not a hit and miss. It’s not a casual, ever-once-in-awhile thing. It’s not like going on vacation. It is a daily, constant, continual following after Him to the best of our ability, as we continue to keep open to the Holy Spirit.
To follow Jesus is to keep our focus on Him consistently. If we lose sight of Him we will stumble and fall or lose our way. One commentator said this, “To truly follow Christ means He has become everything to us. Everyone follows something: friends, popular culture, family, selfish desires, or God. We can only follow one thing at a time… To truly follow Christ means we do not follow anything else. Jesus said in Luke 9:23, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.’… Following Jesus means striving to be like Him. He always obeyed His Father, so that’s what we strive to do (John8:29, 15:10). To truly follow Christ means to make Him the Boss. That’s what it means to make Jesus Lord of our lives.”
May Jesus be the Light of the World to us personally. Let’s allow Him to shine the light on our pathway and then walk that path with confidence in His leadership!