Walking In the Light
Good Morning,
Christ asked us to walk in the light.
1 John 1:5 “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”
vs. 7 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
Believers are to walk in the light, and that walk is a result of close fellowship with Christ. This philosophy is opposite from that of the world. Our goals, dreams, motivations, and responses to the actions of others ought to be different from that of the world’s. From the way I treat my neighbor or wife to the way I face conflict, I should be different. I am not saying I always achieve these goals, but they are my goals.
John 11:9 “Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.”
vs. 10 “But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.”
Some believers stumble through life just as unsaved people because they also walk in the darkness. No child of God should respond to trouble as an unsaved person. A believer should face disappointment differently than a lost soul. Grief will enter the lives of all of us, but when we walk in the light, we ought to respond differently than our lost counterparts.
When a Christian spends little time in prayer and only brief moments reading the Bible, he is almost forced to live life as a lost person; for he is not spiritually equipped to walk in the Spirit and in the light.
When we go into each day, we need to do so prayerfully, seeking the Lord to lead us “in the light” and striving not to walk like an unsaved person. Believers are becoming so worldly that they seek to solve their problems the same way an unsaved person would. Walking in the dark alludes to a worldly walk, a walk with the same motives as the world would have. Walking in the light means to walk as Christ would have us walk.
The obvious lessons are to love our enemies, to forgive, to give to them that ask, not to forsake the assembly, and to live for others; but what about “perfect peace” and rest for your souls? Are not those spiritual possessions? Yes, but they are only to those who walk in the Spirit and the light.
If we allow ourselves to deal with trouble in the same manner as the world, we will resort to divorce or angry words to a spouse. Those actions ought not to be in the life of the child of God. The world deals with life that way. If we walk in the dark, we will not even see how poorly we are responding to life because our eyes cannot see clearly.
The proper order is not to “act better.” (That would be responding in the flesh.) The first priority is to walk with God and to spend much time in prayer and the Bible. We need to seek the presence of God and the filling of the Holy Spirit. The proper attitudes and responses will come naturally. Our time with God compared to our time in front of the television, social media, or other worldly enterprises will be manifested in the way we respond to difficulty.
The songwriter wrote, “Take time to be holy, speak oft’ with the Lord.” To be sure, it takes time to be truly holy, and we need to speak often with God. Heavenly companions will bring about heavenly attitudes and results in our lives.
Pastor