What is lighting your life?

By J.E. Nickerson

For the last few weeks I have been learning some basic home owners skills, while helping my family paint and clean several rooms in our house. One of the upgrades I participated in, was the installation of lights in several rooms of our house. Light bulbs that only gave 60watts of dim yellow light, were replaced with more modern bulbs that gave off a very bright white light.

Suddenly, rooms that appeared to be fairly clean in the dim yellow light, looked in dire need of a good cleaning in the harsh and almost overbearing light of the new bulbs. After seeing how bright the room was with the new light bulbs, my mother exclaimed in disbelief, “I have so much to clean! Oh my God!” I jokingly told my family to quickly turn out the lights, so I didn’t see how much dirt was really in the room. The simple changing of light bulbs gives us a good life lesson about the source of light we choose to guide us in life and the impact it can have on the cleanness of our inner lives.

Many people go through life being guided by various ideas and philosophies they have heard in society. While these ideas often shed light on issues and are used as a source of hope and a way to light the darkness in life, the ideas can give a dim and imperfect view of life.

When Jesus walked the earth he said he was the light of world. This was a very bold statement for him to make at that point in history. When Jesus walked the earth, most of the area he ministered in, was under the control and influence of the Greeks and the Romans. The Greeks and Romans looked to the ancient philosophies of Plato, Aristotle and others to give guidance and light the path that they would take in life. The various schools of philosophies and gods of Greek and Roman worship ceremonies, filled or illuminated the world of the two civilizations and everyone the Greeks and Romans conquered. When a culture was influenced or guided by Greek thought, it was said to have been Hellenized.

For the Hellenized world of that time, Zeus, Aphrodite and other gods, served as an example of how to live and behave. Other societies of the time had their own lights that guided them in the form of their cultural standards, beliefs and gods.

But Jesus’ statement set him apart from the other “lights” in a world of philosophies and gods. Jesus’ statement pointed to the supremacy and true deity of his nature. When Jesus walked the earth, he spoke of being on the same level as God the father. This meant that instead of being just another person to follow, another religious teacher or even a great modern philosopher, Jesus was saying that he was the only true light in the world. Every other light of philosophy and every other religious teacher of his day, would not lead people to God. Only Jesus was able to shine the light of eternal truth in a person’s life.

In our own society we are presented with many philosophies that claim to shine the light of truth or give us a roadmap for our life. Some of these philosophies cast their light on issues including social injustice, racial tensions and global unity among countries. While these philosophies and ideas might sound promising and give us temporary hope for the future, they can never give us permanent answers to all the questions we have about life. They are insufficient when we need help with our daily life or find ourselves in personal situations that are beyond our ability to fix.

The dim lights I replaced in my home were insufficient to show how much dust was really on the floors and walls of my home. It took getting a better light in order to see how much I really needed to clean the rooms, so that my health would improve. In a similar way, only the light of Christ, the true Light of the world, can show us the parts of our life that need to be cleaned up. Only Christ can shine his eternal light of truth into the dark and hopeless situations in our life. Isaiah 9:2 describes the light of Christ in the following words, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” John 1:4-5 KJV gives a similar description of Christ, “In him was life; and the life was the light of men.”

If you want to truly live a life that is bright and full of hope and be able to see where you should go in life, turn to Jesus Christ. Let him shine his light of truth in your life. He can show you the parts of your life that need to be fixed. Only the light that comes from a relationship with Christ, can illuminate the parts of your life that are covered in darkness. Only Christ can give you the answers to the questions about life and the comfort we all need in troubled times.

As we look at the turmoil in the world today and search for answers and hope, I encourage you to turn to Christ and ask him to come into your heart and shine his light of hope into every area of your life. If you want to have a relationship with Christ, pray the following prayer and put your faith in Christ.

Lord Jesus, please come into my life. I confess that you are the son of God who died for my sins. I believe you are the light of the world. Please come into my life and give me hope for the future. Save me from my sins, cleanse my life and lead and guide me. In Jesus’s name amen.

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