This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. … But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
(1 John 1:5, 7 ESV)

Dear Fellowship of the Burning Heart:

When the children were small and I would get up at night to get a drink or check on strange sounds, I would often grope in the dark to find my way, thinking that I knew where I was going and was familiar with the way. As you can guess, the children would often leave a barrier or obstacle in my way in the form of a toy or other object. I would painfully discover that I would have benefited greatly by the light.

“God is light.” The one who created the light “in the beginning” is the source of that light. Some wonder about how light could have existed before the light bearers—sun, moon, and stars—were created, but the Light existed before those objects were spoken into existence. Light here reminds us of the holiness of God, “who dwells in unapproachable light.” It also reminds us of truth and reality, which bring things “to light.”

The dark can be dangerous. Not only have I tripped over toys in a dark hallway, but crime increases during the dark, travel becomes more precarious at night, and people seek to “steal away into the night” to do things they would not want to “be brought to light.” I have never felt more vulnerable and dependent than the two weeks my eyes were bandaged and I could not see anything.

So, if the dark creates precarious and dangerous situations, why don’t we welcome the light? Jesus reminded his disciples that “people love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.” We don’t want the light to expose our “deeds of darkness.” But Christians are “children of the light” and our lives should not only reflect the light by our good deeds, but should expose the darkness in others around us. It’s not that we are seeking to “put people on the spot” but we can’t hide our light under a bowl. How we live WILL call attention to the lives and deeds of those with opposing values.

Walking in the light enables us to have fellowship with each other and with God. In the light we can easily see barriers or dangers each time they appear and we can thus avoid them. Each time a sin “comes to light,” we can confess and forsake it. “The blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” is a wonderful truth reminding us of the continual effect of Christ’s death (“is cleansing us”). Having “renounced the hidden things of darkness,” we have put away from us the shameful, disgraceful, and underhanded ways that used to mark our lives. We no longer seek to deceive, but live out in the open in the light.

Now, speaking of barriers, I want the light, I need the light, to avoid them. I have a smart phone (no comments about it being smarter than I am) and I have found the flashlight app especially helpful. No longer do I have to clamber around in the dark looking for my old flashlight. I just pull out my phone and turn on the app and viola—instant light. The best way to avoid sin is to walk in the light. The best way to live aright is to walk in the light. The best way to keep out of danger is to walk in the light.

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “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 ESV)