Dail Devo: Thursday, Sept 25, 2008

“A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light,

so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light.”

John 1:6-8 (NKJV)

In his letter to the Ephesians Paul calls believers “children of the light”. We were once darkness, he states, but now we are light (Eph 5:8). A lighthouse is intended to save lives and protect others from danger. A torch is intended to help one avoid the danger of a darkened path. Headlights on an automobile allow the driver to maneuver safely on the roadway. Light brings hope and freedom. It also alerts those in darkness that hope and freedom are possible. It is one of the great privileges of a believer to be God’s “instrument of light” for bringing someone to salvation. From the very lips of Christ we hear our profound calling: “you are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14).

Even so, scripture does not want us to be ignorant of the true source of our light. In Ephesians 5:8 Paul does not say simply that we are the light, but rather we are light “in Christ”. John Locke brings out the centrality of Christ in his paraphrase of this verse. He writes: “For ye were heretofore, in your Gentile state, perfectly in the dark; but now, by believing in Christ, and receiving the Gospel, light and knowledge is given to you.” We offer nothing to our salvation, and of ourselves there is nothing redeemable. “Salvation belongs to the Lord” (Psalm 3:8). As the contemporary song truthfully proclaims, “the only thing good in me is Jesus”. John Calvin once warned his congregation by saying, “let us learn to distrust ourselves, knowing that all we can ever bring of our own will does nothing else than turn us away from salvation.” As believers, we are the light of the world—but only because the perfect light of Jesus shines brightly in us.

JG