“Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.” (1John 2:8 KJV)
Moses wrote, “In the beginning . . . darkness was upon the face of the deep. And God said, ‘let there be light’ . . . and God divided the light from the darkness” (Gen 1:2-4 KJV). According to Paul (Ephesians 2:2), somewhere in our past there was darkness. In other words, true light had never shined in our lives until we met and accepted Christ as our Savior and Lord.
The French civil liberties advocate, Voltaire wrote, “The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us.” This has significant meaning to anyone who feels trapped by his/her past. The Apostle Paul said to forget the past and let go of it (Philippians 3:13).
Of course, forgetting the past and looking to the future doesn’t relieve the responsibility of correcting our past sins. Since we can’t actually change our past, we have but one option to gain freedom from it. It is by the mercy of God through Jesus Christ that our past darkness is separated from our present light.
The heavenly Father regarded our spiritually darkened state and loved us so much that he sent his only son then said, “Whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” And the Apostle John wrote, “In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not” (John 1:4-5 KJV). And John continued, “this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19 KJV).
I suppose it boils down to this: a person can continue to live in the misfortune and power of darkness or let Christ deliver him/her into the light. I hate the darkness, don’t you?
Dear Father, thank you for the light of your Son. Empower our lives with light of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. This I pray in the name of Jesus. AMEN
Be courageous today and share the true light,