Live in the Light

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.



If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. (1 John 1:5-10)

Hello again! I took about a week off from my devotionals, ironically because I'm going through a tough spot, and instead of bathing myself in the word I chose to sleep later. I don't want to get into all of that just now, I feel as though it will work itself out over the next few days. But today I'm going to start doing a study of this particular passage, and I might keep at it for a few days. I have to teach a short sermon on one verse in here, and I figure I could use a few days to dwell on it in context. So, let's get started.
 
God is light. When I think about that, I get this image of a Person so great and big and with the very sun shining out of Him that you can't hardly even see his outline. It's kindof a cool mental image I have. We've often seen pictures of Jesus where he's haloed by light, and you have to wonder where that light comes from. Well, "from God" would be a good guess.
 
But where is that light going to? Now that's a question for us. That light is coming straight at us. You can't stand close enough to God for His light to be that gloriously bright and not be bathed in it yourself.
 
So what does that light feel like, and what does it do? Well, as God is, I believe that light is multidimensional. In other words, it is able to do more than one thing at once. I think the Light of God is warming and soothing, much like the feeling you get on the first nice day of summer when you just lay yourself down outside and soak up the warmth. But I also think the Light of God is a light so concentrated and directed that it cuts into us, into the very innermost beings of us, and doesn't leave anything ignored. This is a light that is not stopped by clothing, or the walls we hide behind. And it sees everything.
 
Well shoot. Suddenly my list of sins seems longer.
 
That's the "down side" to having the Light of God directed at us. God sees everything about us, even those secret sins that we've done such a good job of rationalizing that we don't even recognize them any more.
 
But God does.
 
Because with His Light are His Eyes. He will look at everything on which His Light shines. (Which, by the way, is everyhing in the world, but we'll leave that for another day.) So when this light shines into the very innermost depths of our being, so too goes His sight. So God knows. He knows it alllll. You don't have to confess your sins in order for God to know what they are--He can see them plain as day.
 
Did you think that when the lights turned off, when the world spun you away from the sun, that you could do whatever you wanted?
 
Because the Light of God doesn't concern itself with things like steel, bricks, mortar, earth, rock, or magma. And, the Light of God doesn't come from the star around which our planet rotates. It comes from God, who is everywhere. Hm.
 
So what matters most is this: knowing that you live in the Light of God, the light that sees everything and knows everything that it sees, how do you live?