The World Will Dim Your Light

Three weeks ago, during the Sunday evening service, we had a time of quietness as the Lord’s presence filled the sanctuary. I want to share a vision that the Lord gave to me during that time. When I got home, I wrote it down and let it sit for a day or two. When I went back to it, the Lord explained it to me.

“I saw a man who appeared to be standing on a path that was brightly lit as if a flashlight was underneath it. The man seemed to be covered, but not completely, in what appeared to be mud. In between the mud, I could see light, and the light was coming from the man himself. As I looked at the brightly lit path, it seemed like the path became brighter as you looked down it and away from the man. The end of the path seemed to be engulfed in what I can only describe as pure, radiant light.

“As the man began to walk along the path, the mud, which now appeared as pieces, began to slowly fall away from his body, one by one, and more of the light coming from within the man could be seen. On the sides of the path, I could see pieces of mud in the shadows waiting to attach itself to the man as he walked along the path. But the mud had to shrink back into the shadows each time because of the brightness of the path.”

How the Lord help me understand what I saw

The man represented the Church, the body of Christ. The mud that covers him was the filth of the world and the world’s ways of thinking that the man had allowed to infiltrate his life. (That’s very important: “that the man had allowed to infiltrate his life.”) And because the process is slow and undetectable, the man did not realize that his light was becoming dim. The filth had begun to cover the light of his born again spirit because the man was not choosing to walk the brightly lit path that was before him. The Lord said this describes most Christians today.

The brightly lit path was God’s truth, His righteousness and His holiness. The moment the man began to walk the brightly lit path of God’s truth, righteousness and holiness, the filth was exposed and lost its influence in his life. The purity of the light within the man began to shine more brightly as he walked the brightly lit path of God’s truth, righteousness and holiness.

However, more filth lurked in the shadows along the brightly lit path. If the man stayed on the path and kept his eyes focused on the radiant light before him, which was Jesus, the filth would not be able to attach itself to him. But whenever he took his eyes off Jesus, the filth would slowly infiltrate his life and cover him again.

Later, as I thought about the vision and its meaning Matthew 5:16 came to mind. Jesus is talking to the multitudes and says, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

The reason our light is supposed to be shining is because we’re doing the good works that our Father wants us to do .

Now, what is the light that Jesus is referring to in this verse? Let’s go back to verse 14. “Ye are the light of the world …” Each one of you is the light of the world.

The next question we need to ask is “How did we become light?” We learn the answer in First John chapter one. Let’s begin with verse one.

(1) That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;

(2) (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)

(3) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, (Why are we declaring it to you?) that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.

(4) And these things right we unto you, that your joy may be full. (Why would our joy be full? Because we have fellowship with the Father and with His Son.)

(5) This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.

Verse five tells us that God is light and that He is the source of all light. The word no is ou in the Greek and means “absolutely not.” There is another Greek word for not, me, a “not that is based on a condition.” Here in this verse, the not is unconditional. It is an absolute negation