Lent, a Season of Hope ~ Preparing our Hearts for Easter: Day 7
1 John 1:5-7:
“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 and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out 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.”
Corrie ten Boom and her sister, Betsie, along with their father and brother, were arrested and sent to a Nazi concentration camp for the crime of harboring Jews and members of the Dutch resistance after Germany invaded the Netherlands in 1940. Betsie spoke to her sister about when they would be free, “We must tell people what we have learned…that no darkness can keep out God’s marvelous light. They will believe us because we’ve been there.”* Betsy died in the camp in December of 1944. Corrie was released soon after and went on to testify of God’s marvelous light in the midst of darkness until her death in 1983 at the age of 91.
When I read stories of the Holocaust, human trafficking, the yearly statistics of the killing of the unborn, and other injustices, and now war against the peace-loving people of Ukraine, I want to yell, “I hate the world!” Truly, I do. I abhor the darkness of this world that allows, promotes and exalts such hatred towards mankind.
It is sad to think that many people today aren’t even aware that they live in darkness. I think about the people I see on the street, in restaurants, in shops, on television and on Facebook, who are living in darkness and it saddens me. They are blind and don’t even know it. The condition of sin blinds them from seeing the light of Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:4 says, “the god of this world (Satan) has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.“
Even believers can wander into darkness, loving the things of the world more than the things of God. The Bible warns us to guard our hearts and homes, and not to allow darkness to enter in. We must guard our marriages from evil influences that would seek to undermine what God has joined together. As parents, we have a responsibility to help our children walk in the light by monitoring what computer games, internet contacts, books, television shows, movies, and music might pull them into darkness.
Jesus said, “I am the Light of the world: he who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” God commanded the light to shine out of the darkness. When Christ lives in us, we have the light of life, shining in this dark world, because of Christ in us. Nothing can keep it out. So let your light shine in the darkness!
Dear Father, the world is such a dark place to live today. Thank You for the hope and resurrection power that raised Jesus on that Easter morn, which means we can live in the light of Your Son, Jesus forever. We ask that You reveal any areas in our lives where we have allowed darkness to creep in and we ask Your forgiveness. Encourage us to be the light of Christ in this very dark world. For Your sake we pray. Amen.
*Joan Brown, Corrie: The Lives She’s Touched
~ painting by Thomas Kinkade
