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Living In Darkness

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. John 8:12.

Recently I was doing some yard work. The afternoon soon turned to dusk, but I worked on to finish up the project at hand. I had enough light for completion, not realizing how dark it was until I came inside. My mother-in-law greeted me and asked how was I working in the dark? I guess it was at that point I appreciated how dark it was outside. Being fully immersed in the light of inside, pointed out the darkness from which I just came. My eyes had adjusted to the low lighting as I pressed on to finish my work. Not until being removed from the darkness, did I truly understand how the lateness of the hour had crept in. 

Sin, often analogous to darkness, is much the same. When we are in it, we don’t realize how it has consumed us until we step out of it. The only way to step out of it in victory is through a relationship with Jesus Christ. As the darkness came upon me gradually, a rather slow fade, it occurred to me sin does the same. We become comfortable in the darkness and forget what living in the light is even like. It is only when our eyes are illumined by the light that we fully grasp the severity of our situation. 

As Christians, we can step out of the light. It doesn’t mean we have lost our salvation, but our focus can be obscured, allured by other things that pull us from the light. This happens incrementally and often unnoticed, otherwise we would take note much sooner. It creeps up on us much like the light of day fades into night. 

The Psalmist reminds us in Psalm 119:105, Your Word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path. God’s Word is what helps keep the light on in our lives. Our path is illuminated by it. Otherwise, we will pursue what we think to be true, but is obscured by the darkness of sin that has gradually crept in. 

Today, if you don’t have the Light of Christ living inside you, receive the gift of salvation and follow Him. If you are a Christian but have neglected your time with Him, run to His Word for illumination. All else is darkness.

Pastor Keith

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FOCUSED

One of the casualties of aging to which I find myself a victim is the dimming of the eyes.  Ecclesiastes 12 counsels the young person to remember God, their Creator, in their youth before the aging process takes over and various faculties, as listed in verses 1-7, are diminished.

Clear eyesight when we are young may be something we take for granted. However, as we age the realization that our vision is not as sharp as it once was takes hold. “Readers” become standard fare for all intricate tasks. Our once keen laser sharp focus is now blurry and in need of help to restore its youthfulness. That restoration is found through glasses or some sort of rejuvenating surgery. Especially in the early stages of this degenerative eye problem we may be able to fake it and get by, but eventually we must relent and do something to correct the problem.

There is a parallel between physical and spiritual vision. “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” was written in the early 20th century. The hymn writer, Helen Lemmel, was strongly influenced by the artist and later little-known missionary, Lilias Trotter. Miss Trotter started off as an aspiring artist but early on felt a call from God to reach the lost. She began her ministry by rescuing prostitutes from the streets of London. Later she went to Africa, without missionary funding, and served for over forty years. While there she penned a poem that would greatly influence the writing of the hymn “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.”  The poem was entitled “Focused: A Story and Song.” 

The poem centers around focusing one’s attentions fully and completely upon God. She writes that Satan knows that if a person uses all their powers of concentration on being led by God’s Spirit, they will have a great intensity and impact upon those to whom they are called to minister. Lilias Trotter, writing in a more formal use of the English language than we are accustomed, shares some timeless insights which could very easily have been written today but with a different accent. She writes: “Never has it been so easy to live in half a dozen good harmless worlds at once—art, music, social science, games, motoring, the following of some profession, and so on. And between them we run the risk of drifting about, the ‘good’ hiding the ‘best’ even more effectually than it could be hidden downright frivolity with its smothered heartache at its own emptiness.”

The “good” hiding the “best” leads us to emptiness.  Could this be true of us today especially as American Christians? Have we sought the “good” while missing the “best”? The chorus of the hymn, which we will be singing in worship this Sunday, says it best.

                Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face,                                                                                                                                        And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.

Keith Pate

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