I remember one vacation we took with our kids. We went on a tour of a cave and at one point on the journey, the guide shut off the lights. It was so dark you couldn’t even see your hands in front of your face. It was a very eerie and unsettling feeling. But when the light came back on, you could hear a sigh of relief in the crowd. Light always overcomes the darkness. I’m thinking we would agree that being able to see and being in the light is the best place to be.
This world is VERY dark. And it all begins with Satan. When Satan was kicked out of heaven, he was hurled to the earth. After he deceived Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, God put a curse on the earth (Genesis 3:17). And Scripture identifies Satan as the ruler (prince) of the world (John 12:31). Therefore, the place we live right now is a dark place. We could never know the depth of evil and darkness that prevails over this place. Darkness has triumphed over this place since the beginning. But John records some good news in John 1:4-5: “The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness can never extinguish it.”
Jesus was sent to this place to bring light… to overcome the darkness. As believers, we are children of light (1 Thessalonians 5:5). But the question becomes… Can the darkness overpower the children of light? Absolutely! The darkness CANNOT take our eternal salvation away from us but it can encroach upon our life and bring us into darkness. Can the darkness steal our joy and peace? Yes! Can the darkness take us deep into hopelessness, despair, and discouragement? Yes! Can the darkness overshadow the good things God has done for you? Yes!
If that’s the case, then the next question is… How can we keep ourselves from letting the darkness overtake us? Jesus gives us that answer in our key verse: “Walk in the light while you can, so the darkness will not overtake you” (John 12:35). As I pondered this word from Jesus, I focused on one word in that sentence… a word we might overlook. The word IN. Jesus didn’t say we are to walk with the light or before the light or behind the light. He said, walk IN the light. That means that we are to immerse ourselves in the light. We are to become one with the light.
What does this mean? Here are four things…
We follow! We follow His precepts. We take His mandates as gospel, always seeking to obey whether it feels good or not. We put His voice above ALL other voices.
We grow! We grow in wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. We seek to grow our faith. We never settle with a little, but we seek maturity in our Christian life.
We saturate! We saturate ourselves in His character, His attributes, and His Word. We chase after these things as we want them to become who we are too. We want others to see Jesus in us.
We fill! We are constantly letting the Holy Spirit fill us. We fill ourselves with truth, righteousness, and love. Our bodies become vessels for God to continually pour into us.
When we continually do these things, we keep the darkness at a distance. In other words, Satan cannot have the upper hand. So, let’s walk today IN the light.