One of my coworkers was kind enough to let me look through his eclipse glasses today. I wasn’t expecting to be blown away, but when I saw the sun being partly blocked by the moon, my response was an enthusiastic, “Oh that’s cool!” I only looked for a brief moment, but it was incredible to see the eclipse first hand and to know I was witnessing it myself.
I watched a live feed on my computer, and saw many photos posted on Facebook and Instagram, and as neat as those were, they didn’t come close to exciting me in the same way as my firsthand experience. Did you know that God created the sun and the moon for us? One to be the light for us during the day, and one for the night. I promise I'm not trying to insult anyone's intelligence with that question, but it's something we kind of take for granted until one of them goes dark! “Then God said, 'Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth'; and it was so. God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also.” (Genesis 1:14-16) He also sent His Son Jesus to be the Light for us. Jesus Himself 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). Today’s eclipse had me thinking a bit about the sun being our light and the Son being our Light. Just as it was so much more exciting for me to see the eclipse of the sun today firsthand, so is it much more incredible to experience Jesus firsthand. In this country we are fairly inundated with talk about church, Christianity, and even Jesus, but if you’ve never experienced Him firsthand, you may not understand what the big deal is. I initially had no intention of watching the eclipse and passed by numerous displays at stores selling the special viewing glasses, not realizing what a big deal it would be. But when I had the opportunity to witness it first hand, I sure wish I had my own pair! It's kind of the same with Jesus. Knowing about Jesus is not the same as knowing Him personally. A relationship with Him and experiencing His guiding Light can impact your life in a way that facts and stories about Him never can. Many of us, Christians included, can lose sight of this, when His Light is darkened (or eclipsed if you will) in our lives. What can cause an eclipse of Christ’s Light in our life?
“For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” Romans 1:21 We can remove the barriers which shadow us from God's Light by humbling ourselves and acknowledging that we've been wallowing and stumbling around in darkness. We need to turn back towards the Light and let Him in. Sometimes when God feels distant and His light seems dim, I have to stop and reflect and confess the bad attitudes and other junk in my life. Sometimes I can't even see clearly enough to recognize the junk in my life, and I have to ask God to shine into my darkness and reveal those things in me that I can't even see! Doing so allows me to confess those things and ask His forgiveness, and allows me to walk with Him again freely in the light. I would encourage us all to seek the Light, the true Light, Jesus Christ. In a world of chaos, conflict, moral ambiguity and confusion, I find myself craving the Word of God even more as my foundation of Truth and Light. Jesus, the Word of God, is so refreshing to my soul!
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AuthorFull time office worker, full time wife, and full time lover of Jesus. I'm kind of a Bible nerd, and I have a passion for finding ways to introduce Jesus in a practical way to everyday people doing everyday things. Archives
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