Living 'In The Light'

There are some Bible verses and passages that really hit you, oftentimes when you are not expecting it and even if you have read them hundreds of times. Read this:

"If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." - 1 John 1:6-7

Last night, at about 10:00, after getting off the phone with Home Depot trying to figure out why they randomly cancelled an order of mine, I read this passage. It hit me harder than it ever has before and harder than almost any other passage I can think of recently.

Why? Because I do not want to lie and not live out the truth. I want the Blood of Jesus to purify my sin. I want to have fellowship with Jesus and walk in the light. 

Why? Because I fail...A lot...Way too much...

The truth is, most of us know when we are living in the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have fellowship with other believers, we have a vibrant prayer life, we love going to church, and we know we are growing in our relationship with Jesus.

We also know when are not living in the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We look at other things way more than Him, we do not have fellowship with other believers, our prayer life is non-existent, we start to skip church and not look forward to it, and we know we are not growing in our relationship with Jesus.

In my flesh, I keep a balance book, a checklist of sorts. Not literally, but figuratively. In my mind, if I have done this, that, and this then I am good. If I have not, then I am not. In my mind, Jesus has "saved me more" if I am doing good things, but that is not who Jesus is thankfully.

There is a healthy aspect of keeping tabs on our own life. Of making sure that we are "living in the light" through prayer, fellowship, quiet time, Bible reading, etc. In a much more real sense, however, that is also not living in the light.

The light is not "good living" and being out of the light is not "bad living." You do not get moved out of the life by missing church or not having your quiet time.

The Point: JESUS IS THE LIGHT!

The reason this passage struck me and dropped me to my knees (literally to my stomach because I actually laid down in prayer in our living room) last night is because I did not want a fake light...I want to live in the actual light. I want to want Jesus. 

I do not want to get upset when I fail or do something wrong solely because of what I did. I want to want Jesus so much that He makes nothing else matter. 

This is not a "practical" blog with advice on what to do next. I will let you know when I figure that part of it out. This is a blog to tell you what I want and what I want you to want...Jesus.

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