JESUS is the light of life.
It was dark and the battery on our pickup was stone dead.
Now what?
Stranded in a remote, mostly unpopulated region near the base of the Steens Mountains in southeastern Oregon, we had no choice but to go looking for help. We began walking toward the light from a distant ranch house. We guessed that the house was ten miles north across the vast sagebrush flatland, but after walking an hour, the light still looked ten miles away.
Then we saw a glint of light on the hillside to the west. It was moonlight reflecting off the window of a pickup canopy. After a fifteen minute climb up the hillside, we called out to the bird hunter sleeping inside. He sat up and turned on the overhead light in his canopy. An hour later his battery revived ours and we headed home.
I’ve thought about that shimmer of reflected moonlight many times since. That bit of reflected light represented hope and help to three tired men on that dark night.
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “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).
Jesus said, “I am the light of this spiritually dark world.” He reflects God’s aliveness just as a full moon reflects the light of the sun. And His reflected aliveness provides direction for seekers who would otherwise be lost in the darkness.
When I was a teenager, I remember standing on Sixth Avenue in Portland, Oregon when I suddenly looked up and saw a sign that said: “I am the light of the world.” I remember thinking, I wish I could believe that. But at that moment I didn’t, and life seemed dark and hopeless.
Six months later I saw an appealing brightness—a glint of reflected light—in the eyes of Steve, a high school friend who was bold enough to talk plainly with me about the One who claimed to be the light that leads to life (John 8:12, nlt). I started by reading the gospel of John, and the words of Jesus came alive, indeed seemed almost neon to me. I’ve since learned to prize the reflections of God’s aliveness in His Word and in this world.
Life Challenge: Do you currently see a reflection of God’s aliveness in someone’s life? Are you willing to tell that person what you see?