Mark 5:8
“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light”
I’ve always been terrified of the dark. Nightlights and left-on hall lights filled my childhood and if a bulb burned out or a parent flipped a switch before I was fast asleep, there I’d go into a full-on frenzy.
There was just something so consuming about the dark. The darkness went beyond spooky feelings and somehow found ways to invade and settle into my mind. I’d get antsy, get worried. I’d roll around helplessly in my sheets. I hid under the cover hoping to escape, only to find myself deeper in darkness. The only answer was light, lots of light.
I’m still scared of the dark, go figure. But it’s gone beyond that. I’m afraid of the literal dark and the darkness that covers our world. Ok, correction. I’m not necessarily “afraid,” I’m aware of its intensity. Fear has no grip on me because I trust in an almighty God. But even resting in the warm embrace of Jesus, I can still look out at the darkness that consumes and agree that its intensity is terrifying. It’s the darkness that Jesus abolishes with his light and it’s darkness I can face, ready to shed light on it with the power of the Holy Spirit.
We’re called children of light, did you know that? I always think of following Jesus and I think of my little self walking in his shadow, head down focused on his steps. But I’m not walking in Jesus’ shadow when I walk with him. No, I’m walking right there beside him in his glorious light! Darkness has to flee when I walk in my identity as a child of light.
Today, as we face a world of darkness, let us be spending so much time with Jesus, digging into our bibles and pursuing the heart of God so we may walk with a face full of light, so we may look more and more like children of light. Ask Jesus today how you can begin shedding light on the darkness and where he longs to use you in mighty ways.