Be my Light ...

Thursday, Dec 3, 2015. Have you ever read John 8, 12, where Jesus says that he is the light of the world, and that those who follow him will have the light of life? It is a fascinating sentence - and you will have to fill it with meaning, to understand it! What is the light he is talking about?

What does light mean? …

Light has always been an image of life, of insight, of seeing through, of being on a good path, of being pure and warm and good. Darkness has been an image of death, of missing insight, of not seeing through, of a bad path, of being impure and cold and bad. Biblical ethics defines “bad” as something which destroys life.

We are now in winter on the northern hemisphere, and the images of light and darkness move many people. We light candles as lights in the night, as images for something which brings light and a warm breath in cold times. The celebration of Christmas itself has been chosen to take place when darkness is strongest, to symbolize the light which comes through and in Jesus.

The gospels proclaim Jesus as the light of the world. When we come into contact with him, and when we believe him, when we open our mind and our heart to him, light comes into our life. Faith is a process. The bible compares it with a birth process, where something is received, then it grows, and at some point a baby is born. In this image, the birth is when your faith reaches the point to trust your life into the hands of God.

Daily light …

When we talk about faith, there is this basic dimension. How could we talk about discipleship and living in the light, when you do not have faith, when you do not know Jesus and when you are not at the point to trust him with what you do? But when you live in faith, there is still the daily challenge to live in the light. It is the challenge to grow in faith, to develop. The light changes us, and this change takes time. It takes decisions, step by step.

We are called to continuous prayer in many places in the bible. Here, we can ask God to be light on a daily basis, to help us to understand, to open our heart and our mind for people, to be full of love and truth and passion.

Sometimes people are a little naive, they think they want to do good and then it all works. But usually it is not as easy. Conflicts come, and understanding is difficult, different characters and skills need to work together. This is something where we need the guidance and education of the Lord. We need his light, day by day! We need him to be there in the middle of our life, with his spirit, and with his power. We need to tell him and ask him: be my light! He will, if we pray to him. (RWEP) ... more texts