Ever notice when the lights go off your demeanor changes? The first thing we do is our eyes open wider. We start feeling around for location. You feel lost. You waves your arms around looking for safety zones. You feel blind. Some even get a little fearful, perhaps all of us do. But after a while we start to get used to the darkness. The feelings we had just minutes earlier start to subside. The darkness isn't that bad of a place after all. The darkness doesn't seem like darkness anymore. But then when the lights come on we react by shielding our eyes, hiding from the light, if you will. The light now becomes scary.
Same it is with life. People are living in darkness, yet they are used to it. They do not know the fear of the dark anymore. The darkness to them is no longer darkness. This darkness is of course an analogy for sin. At first when people start to sin or are old enough to realize they are sinning, they are scared to do it at first. This is why when we are teenagers we are afraid to try things that we know our parents would not accept. N o one picks up a needle and injects themselves fearlessly the first time they see it. No one cheats on their spouses and feels great about it the first time. Sin grows on you. It becomes part of your life. And the more you do the easier it is to accept it as part of you.
But when someone comes by and shows us the light, Jesus Christ, we shun away from it. The truth, when it hits us right in the face, hurts. Some at that point will hide from the light and will never accept it. They don't want to face the light because they have gotten used to living in darkness. Others will hide in the shadows. They see the light but do not know how to adjust to it. And still some will open their eyes and notice how dark their lives were.
The younger generation today may not have ever even seen the light. They have never step foot inside a church or have never been told what truth really is. They think that what is around them is the only way to live. Abuse, neglect, and all other kinds of relationship problems is all they know. The sins of the world are common. Nothing matters to them because all they have seen is darkness. Their parents guard them from the light because they have shunned the light.
The good news is once light appears there is no darkness. As Christians, we are the light. Unfortunately, there are so many Christians living in the darkness of the world they do not know what the light is anymore. They have allowed the world's rationalizations to become their doctrines. The lies from this world have become accepted as "what is right for you may not be right for me". There are things that are wrong to do in this world. They always have been and they always will be. Time does not change values, people do.
Be the light.
