Kingdom Of Light

Read: John 1:1-14

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. John 1:5

IN WORD

We were born into a kingdom of darkness. Sure, we’ve gotten glimpses of light, and most of us have managed not to sink as deeply into darkness as others. But the systems of this world are not set up selflessly or efficiently, and those with power rarely wield it exclusively for the benefit of others. We know that because millennia of human governments, economies, and other social systems have not solved poverty, crime, greed, or corruption. Like a civilization that can’t see beyond its own borders, we’ve never grasped pure and holy alternatives. Our world can be a very dark place.

On the other hand, this world is not a kingdom of total darkness. Though unbridled sin and corruption would make it so, God has sent light into the world to shine into dark places. Some of us have seen the light without becoming light ourselves, while others of us have seen it and begun to reflect it clearly. Meanwhile, many can hardly tell the difference. Maladjusted eyes don’t distinguish light from dark but perceive everything as some shade of gray. They benefit from the light but don’t recognize its source. The kingdom of darkness has blinded them to the light of the world.

Even so, the light has come, and we can’t afford to live in the gray. Our job is to make distinctions, to choose daily which kingdom to dwell in—not which kingdom to belong to, for our faith has already settled that, but which one to experience moment by moment. Human beings make hundreds of choices a day, and Kingdom citizens must always choose light. Darkness does us no favors.

IN DEED

If you want to overcome, learn to live in the light. That’s what Jesus meant when He said to seek His Kingdom above all else (Matthew 6:33) and what John later wrote to Christians who were confusing the source of their life (1 John 1:5-7). Many claim fellowship with God and then choose darkness. It won’t work. Daily decisions, even small ones, make a difference. Real life happens only in the light.

ADDITIONAL READING: 1 John 1:5-7

Every time you make a choice, you are turning the central part of you . . . into something a little different from what it was before.

C. S. LEWIS