Ordinarily, you would expect people to shun darkness because of the immense dangers and risks entailed. Anything can happen to you in the dark, for the simple reason that you do not know what could befall you there. To a large extent, it can be a life-threatening experience. Yet, in general, people are attracted to darkness because it offers them a perfect cover for doing mischief. However, that is true up to a limit – as far as the human eye can go. With God, who sees in the dark as well as in the light, we are naked before His eyes. Darkness has no regard for the truth and partners with evil. It facilitates havoc by night when people are fast asleep and most especially after sunset.
At the creation, we learn of how “The earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said ‘Let there be light and there was light.” (Genesis 1:2-3) God disapproved of darkness and spoke light into existence, and the scene was immediately altered.
We also can speak to our dark situations to effect the change we desire to any given setting we want to see. There is enough darkness in the world out there for believers to go down on our knees and seek God’s intervention -- if we are concerned about the way the world is going. If evil seems to triumph in our generation and is fast becoming the accepted way of life, it is because we do not shine our light. If we did, darkness would disappear before our very eyes.
Anywhere darkness lurks, all it takes is a little spark of light to dispel it. However thick the cloud of darkness is, a glimmer of light will chase it a way. Darkness, in its figurative sense depicts evil and those who developed some kinship with it are the evil-doers.
That spark of light is the figure of our Lord Jesus Himself who declared: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12) Yes, you heard right. Everywhere our Lord Jesus went He shone His light and darkness melted away.
A quick scan of what is happening in the world will substantiate that people are prone to evil because the fear of the Lord is not in them. But take heart, when you have an encounter with Jesus, the devil and his cohorts will stay clear of your path. Remember, one of the main reasons the Son of Man – Jesus, came into this world was “to destroy the works of the devil.” (1 John 3:8b) No devil could stand on His way. They recognised who He was and fled. He radiated the true LIGHT.
Darkness cohabits with the wicked to spread its tentacles the world over and it is spreading like wild fire. It is heart-rending to see the extent to which people would go to perpetrate evil, prodded on by the agent of darkness, Satan. Ever since the devil deceived Adam and Eve, he has not stopped doing evil in a bid to fill hell - his final destination - to capacity. We should not let him. “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.” (1 Peter 2:9)
The Children of Israel had God as their king but because all around them the pagan nations had kings, they asked Prophet Samuel for a king to rule over them as well. On a number of occasions after defeating their enemies, they would begin to worship the gods of the nations they had defeated. How very foolish! In spite of all the warnings God gave them through the prophets God made available to the Children of Israel, they chose darkness.
They constantly missed the mark. Light (God) cannot fellowship with darkness (Satan). They repeatedly disobeyed God’s instructions given to His prophets not to marry the daughters of the Gentile nations but they paid Him little heed and suffered the consequences.
God however provided a remedy to their weakness for darkness when He sent His Only Begotten Son, Jesus, into the world to reflect the true light. “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.” (Isaiah 9:2) Indeed, God in His infinite wisdom delegated His Son to teach us about grace which means undeserved, unmerited and unearned favour. All we have to do is to come to Him. He will not drive anyone away.
Through His Word, God offers the light that lightens our path and our lives. “The unfolding of Your words give light; it gives understanding to the simple.” (Psalm 119:130) Unfortunately, people still choose darkness. But God has not given up on them. He is giving humanity a second chance for a thorough heart operation when they would turn their backs on darkness. Apostle John drives the point home when he writes: “God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 John 1:5-7)
God’s word encourages us to ‘beam His light’ and be a bright example to the world by the way we live. The Word of God urges us to live as the light of the world. “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16)
“He (God) wraps Himself in light as with a garment; He stretches out the heavens like a tent and lays the beams of His upper chambers on their waters.” (Psalm 104:2) Today, choose light!