Our Spiritual Walk #4
Walking in Light, Truth, and Love
John 12:35
CHCC – July 6, 2014
INTRODUCTION:
OK now, we’re ready to start the actual walk. We’ve learned about the difference between the narrow and broad way so we know which path to stay on … and which to avoid like the plague. We have put off the old man and all his bad habits, and have thrown off all the sins and weights that hinder us. Now, we have put on the new man, the full armor, and the virtues. We are prepared and ready to go forward on our daily walk. So now, what does the actual spiritual walk look like?
1. WALK IN THE LIGHT
John 12:35, “Then Jesus told them, ‘You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before the darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light.’”
Jesus said this when his days on earth were about to end. He told the crowds that he would only be with them for a short while longer, and that they should walk in his light while it was available to them.
When John the Apostle wrote his gospel about Jesus, he stated in John 1:4-5, in him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” On the basis of what John wrote, what can we already see about the light?
• Jesus himself IS the light, and what He teaches is light
• Those living without Christ are living and walking in darkness and unable to understand the light.
• Those who put their trust in the light of Christ will become sons of light.
Most religions talk a lot about “enlightenment.” But a lot of these teachings are not real light at all … in fact they are just variations of darkness. In Matthew 6:23 Jesus said, “When your eye is bad, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!”
So how can we tell the difference between what is CALLED light and what is actually REAL light?
John wrote about this dilemma when he introduced Christ as light in the gospel. He wrote, concerning Jesus as light in the midst of darkness, John 3:19, “This is the verdict; Light has come into the world but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear his deeds will be exposed.”
There’s a reason that most crime happens in the dark of night. And there’s a reason that most security systems include a bright light and cameras. There’s an assumption that criminals will run away if you shine a light on them. That’s what John was explaining when he said men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
But that same lighted security system has an opposite effect if your deeds are innocent. Our pueblo meets at the McFarlin’s and they have a light that comes on when you approach the front walk. We walk in that light … no one runs away from it. We appreciate walking in it! That’s what Paul meant when he wrote, “You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.”
Walking in LIGHT is step one because walking in darkness won’t work. But we must appreciate and seek the light. Just as plants need the light to grow, we need light from God to grow into the fullness of Christ.
2. WALK IN THE TRUTH
3 John 1:3-4, “It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”
When I first thought about it, it seemed like walking in the Light and walking in the Truth were pretty much the same thing. After all, Jesus is LIGHT and Jesus is TRUTH. God’s Word is LIGHT and God’s Word is TRUTH. One morning when I was taking my 30-minute walk, I asked God to give me insight into the differences between walking in the light and walking in truth. It was while I was showering after my walk that a word popped into my mind like a flash of insight: binoculars.
That one word led me to think about how we prefer to see things with BOTH eyes. In fact, if someone loses sight in one eye, they lose the sense of depth perception that binocular vision gives. I think this applies to the importance of walking in both LIGHT and TRUTH.
It is certainly true that if we walk in the light we are also walking in the truth. It is true that we receive BOTH light and truth from God’s Word. John 17:17 says, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.”
There are two words used to describe God’s Word in scripture: Logos and Rhema. The Greek word Logos describes the written word of God while Rhema means the spoken word of God. Those words can give us some insight into the need for BOTH light and truth in our Christian Walk.
I’m going to think of LOGOS as truth. We receive Logos from the Word by reading, memorizing, and meditating on the Word of God. This is the way God transforms our mind. TRUTH is planted into our way of thinking. Regular interaction with LOGOS plants truth in our minds.
We also experience RHEMA in the form of divine insights … which come to us in a way that is like a spoken word from God. We may not actually hear His voice, put we receive understanding and insight that is very much like a flash of LIGHT.
Both Truth and Light are found in Jesus and in the Bible. Both are needed if we are to have depth perception as we walk. Truth is LOGOS transforming our minds. Light is RHEMA giving insight to our hearts.
This binocular vision of mind and heart keeps us from stumbling. Truth and Light work together to keep us from being deceived into wandering off down the wrong path. So, what are some practical ways we can be sure we are WALKING in both LIGHT and TRUTH every day?
• ASK for both Light and Truth. In Ephesians 1:17-19 Paul asked God to give … “the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better, and so that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened…”
• Read God’s Word with expectancy --- keeping your spiritual eyes open for insights as well as understanding
• Stop and ponder --- Allow God a quiet time to transform your mind with his LOGOS and speak to your heart with his RHEMA.
• Thank God for the Light and Truth He has given you.
• Start your WALK with confidence and with readiness to share Truth and Light with everyone you meet that day.
3. WALK IN LOVE
Ephesians 5:1-2 tells us, “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma”
To help us understand how to identify this kind of walk, we gain help from what precedes and follows the phrase “walk in love.” The first hint comes from Paul’s advice to “be imitators of God as beloved children.” I love watching pre-school children as they mimic the actions of their parents. I recently participated in a 6 week exercise program at church which included some mothers who brought their young children with them. One little girl tried out almost every exercise routine she saw her mother doing. Naturally, she didn’t do everything as well as her mother did, but she tried to copy her mother’s actions as closely as she could. The fact that she wanted to follow in her mother’s footsteps was admirable… and fun to watch.
Like the actions of our budding imitator in the aerobics class, we are all to imitate God as His beloved children. Naturally, we won’t walk in love as well as God does, but our attempts to imitate His ways will be as endearing to Him as those children were in our class at church. We are winners if we simply attempt to do what we see God doing. Because His love and mercy are so abundant with us, He inspires us to pass on His love to others.
Today we talked about walking in LIGHT, TRUTH, and LOVE. Out of those three, LOVE is the one that is most observable. Light and Truth are in our heart and mind, but LOVE is something you DO. Walking in Love doesn’t mean walking around with a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. Love will show itself in acts and words of kindness and help and generosity.
Paul followed up the walking in Love phrase with a second word picture like this “…just as Christ loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering, and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.” We know that people can SEE love in our words and actions, but did you know you can also SMELL love?
According to Scripture, Walking in love will cause us to have the aroma of Jesus. Imagine that! We smell like Jesus … which is the fragrance of life … among those who are being saved (2 Cor. 2:14-16).
Every time I get together with God’s people in a worship service, my great hope is that together we will all smell like Jesus. Surely that is a pleasing aroma to God, and we get the privilege of sharing the Jesus aroma with each other.
CONCLUSION:
Each day, as you walk out your door and start the activities of the day … whether it is going to school, or work, or whatever you have planned … you can purposefully walk in light, truth, and love.
What will that do for you?
• LIGHT will keep you from stumbling and falling,
• TRUTH will steer you away from lies and deceit,
• and LOVE will keep you in tune with your Heavenly Father. It will make you a blessing to everyone you encounter … and even cause them to catch a whiff of the aroma of Christ.
There’s much more to this walking thing in the scriptures, but this is enough to get us started on the way that leads to life and greater purpose. I hope you’ve got your walking shoes on. Go forth, and walk the walk. God will guide you all the way and make your path straight.
