John 1:5
And the light shined in the darkness and the darkness comprehended it not.
This is my all time favorite verse and the one I carry in my heart through my journey. It represents my own walk as well as the Hope of the world. In this one line, there are such things as happily ever afters, love will find a way, good winning over evil, and all the other ideals that I am called naive for believing.
In Genesis 1:3 when God said "let there be light", brilliance exploded into this world. The next verse however is what blows my mind, where God had to seperate the light and dark. If it wasn't already separated that means it existed together at the same time and in the same place. I imagine it swirling around like a Vincent van Gogh painting. But I do not imagine it blending together because of the scripture John 1:5. He separated light and dark, much like we must do on a daily basis.
While sin and salvation can swirl around within a person, they can never blend. We try to blend them but we are not God and eventually we end up like gray mud. But God can separate the dark and light within us again so that we can choose which we paint out lives with.
Once he does, It is up to us to keep it seperate. The enemy will try to surround you with darkness so you become accustom to it. It's a trap. One that many Christians fall victim to. Before they know it, they are picking and choosing which "little" sins they think they can let slide and which ones they are going judge others as the "real" sins. Eventually, they become judgmental of those who sin big and lie about the ones they entertain. And then the devil has them.
We are in no position to judge another if our own life does not fully represent the life of Jesus. He had compassion for the needy, the sinner, and even the thief that hung on the cross beside him.
I am guilty of being judgmental. Just yesterday, God taught me a lesson on this very subject. Our focus should be on our relationship with God. If I see a homeless person and I have $10, I will give it to him. It is not in my scope of control or my business what the person doe with that money. My business is that I am compassionate and kind. And not out of convenience and show. I will take the time to talk to that person, because even if they are strung out on drugs, and I suspect they want to buy more drugs, they are still a person, and one that is hurting. I know this as fact, because I used to be that person. The people I remember from that dark time in my life are the ones that showed care, the ones that bought me a meal and a room, the ones that did for me without expecting something in return. Those were the examples of light in my life that led me to hope for better when everything seemed to bleak for me to survive. I want to be like those people. Not the ones that said or acted like I will only love you if, or the ones that only cared about me when someone was looking.
God, my Father, please protect me against being a fake light, and guide me towards true holiness in my love for my fellow man. Give me the strength and understanding to resist ALL temptations of darkness, rather than becoming a hypocrite against your Word, Lord. Chase the judgements of others and even the smallest foothold for the enemy out of my life. I want to walk in Your light, to be an example of Your light. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
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