I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. – John 8:12
When I was young, we did a lot of hiking in the backcountry. One particular time, when I was twelve, my dad took a friend and me up the coast range about six miles and dropped us off by ourselves. It was early in the spring, and there was snow and a Chinook wind blowing. We set up our tent under a big fir tree, but before we knew it, there was water running through the tent. Our sleeping bags were soaking wet and we thought we would never survive out there, so we decided to walk out.
The sun had not been down long when my friend and I left our campsite, and we walked and walked. We tried to encourage each other, but we were afraid. It was so dark! We could not see the potholes in the road and they tripped us. And there were noises! We were not necessarily scared of the dark, but we were afraid of what was in the dark.
After trekking a considerable distance, I will never forget how tired we were. Then we rounded a corner in the road and saw the most beautiful sight in the world: a light! It was way off in the distance, but it shined towards us and it just called to me.
The light was coming from a little farm that was way up the road. When we finally got to the door, we knocked. I think it was about 2:30 in the morning, but the woman who answered the door was so good to us. She turned on the lights and made us cups of hot chocolate. They tasted so good! We called our parents and just basked in how good it felt to be inside there—safely out of the darkness.
As frightening as the darkness was in that childhood adventure, spiritual darkness is so much worse. The darkness that is in the world hides the snares of the devil, so people end up tripping through life and falling into unwise and even sinful behavior. It is so important that we walk in God’s light! We need to stay out of the shadows and get in the light where we can see. Why would we stand in the dark where it is cold and we are afraid, when there is warmth and fellowship, wonderful peace and joy, in God’s light?
I think back about how good it felt to be safe inside that woman’s home, and to me, that is the picture of the Gospel. The Gospel is wonderful! The devil tells people that the light is accountability, embarrassment, and struggles; but it is none of that. It is true that hard times will come, and there will be things that we do not quite understand, but we can get on our knees and the Lord will be there to encourage us. We have a wonderful Savior, and even though this world is dark, we are not walking in darkness. We are walking in the glorious light of the Gospel!