LifeLink Devotional

Monday, March 16, 2020

There was a time years ago when I refused to use a flashlight on my way to or from my treestand in the pre-dawn or post-sunset darkness. I prided myself on knowing the way, having prepared the path, so I would not give away my presence to any nearby prey. Those days are mostly gone. I have stumbled too many times to be so proud as to not admit my need of light.

People are stumbling around our world in the darkness of religious effort. Jesus recognized this malady all around Him. Jesus was surrounded by spiritually blind people being followed blindly by seekers of spiritual light, only to become more deeply lost in darkness.

In January of 2008, Dr. Billy Graham wrote the following:

Scientists say they do not know what light is. We know the effects of the sun, but we don’t exactly know all about it. We know that no plant or animal or human life on this earth can live without light.

God put the sun a precise distance from the earth. If the sun were a few kilometers closer to us, we would all be burned up. If it were farther from us, we would freeze to death.

What the sun is to the earth, Jesus Christ is to the human heart. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (John 8:12). As I’ve traveled around the world, I’ve seen the light of thousands of Christian hospitals and Christian educational institutions; I see this light shining across the world, extending our Christian hand of compassion to a needy world. But more than helping the body, I see it coming into the souls of people. You have a body. But the Bible also says you have a soul, a spirit living inside of you. When you die, your body goes to the grave. But the spirit, the real you, lives on forever. Jesus said if you come to Him, you will live with Him.

In America many people are stumbling like blind people, going through life searching for something that they don’t have. Oh, they have money. They have television sets. They may have an automobile. They have all those things, but they’re not happy. Peace is not in their heart. Why? Because they don’t know Christ. Jesus Christ is the One that brings peace in our hearts. He turns His light on in our hearts.

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).  Those who don’t believe in Jesus Christ are walking in darkness. They are lost. They may be seeking the light, but on their own terms and according to their own desires. Jesus said, the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. (John 3:19)

Quit stumbling around in the darkness. Religious duty cannot produce light. Culture is not the source of light. Personal pleasure is not the source of light. Come to the true Light – Jesus Christ.

Pastor John