LifeLink Devotions for Thursday, January 1, 2026

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I am amazed when I see the moon. How is it that God created a lifeless orb of rock that could reflect light so brilliantly? It has no light within itself. It only reflects the light it receives from the sun. God placed it in the perfect position to reflect just the right amount of light.

Night has fallen upon our world. It is morally dark. Isaiah describes the condition in verses ten through twelve of chapter fifty-six.

• Israel’s watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge;
• they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark;
• they lie around and dream, they love to sleep.
• They are dogs with mighty appetites; they never have enough.
• They are shepherds who lack understanding; they all turn to their own way, each seeks his own gain.
• “Come,” each one cries, “let me get wine! Let us drink our fill of beer! And tomorrow will be like today, or even far better.”

Maybe before we go on we should take a moment and review that list and prayerfully consider with the help of the Holy Spirit which of those things might be true of our hearts. You see, we are God’s watchmen of our day. We do not want the darkness to invade us. We need the knowledge of God to be able to see into the darkness. We need to be prepared to issue warning barks when evil infiltrates people’s lives. We need to stay alert. We need to be content with what God has given us. We need to consider others ahead of ourselves. And we need to stop depending on the pleasures of the world to bring us fulfillment.

Once we deal with those things we will be equipped and prepared to penetrate the darkness around us with the Light of Jesus.  I’m sure the Holy Spirit has already shown you the application. God created us in Christ Jesus to be the reflection of His Light to the world around us. We have been placed in the perfect position in relationship to the world so that we bring the light of the Son to those in darkness.

But unlike the moon, we are not mere reflectors of the Light – we are the Light. We have the Son that the world needs to see. Jesus, the Light of the world, lives in us. The issue we must deal with is why the Light doesn’t shine better. We seem to be stuck in the new moon phase of life, when the world needs us to be in full moon phase. We are participating in the darkness rather than illuminating it.

The solution is simple – “Lord Jesus, illuminate me!  I turn my face towards you so that I am no longer in the shadow of the world. Then will you be able to use me to illuminate the darkness around me.”

Pastor John