Walking In The Light

Walking In The Light

I John 5:5-10

Earlier in the year, my son planted some sunflower seeds. Early on we were not sure if they were going to grow; but as time went on those plants began to rise from the soil. Throughout the summer those plants continued to grow and at their peak some of them were near 8 feet tall. In time they began to bloom into vibrant, bright yellow flowers. However, as summer came to a close, a change took place, those once tall and beautiful flowers began to slump over. One day I went outside and those flowers were almost horizontal with their heads on the ground. In a few more days they began to wilt and die. This happened because of their location and the fact that they could not get enough sunlight to survive. This is because plants grow by photosynthesis, which is dependent upon light. Therefore, if there is no light there is no growth. This is also true spiritually speaking, for there to be life and spiritual growth, there must be light!

The Apostle John exhorts the readers of his first epistle to “walk in the light”. There is great hope to be found in the promise that, “if we walk in the light as He (God) is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Like John, I would like to encourage you to “walk in the light”. In order to assist in this process, I would like to survey the scriptures and show you how to walk in the light.

When we read the word “walk” in the scriptures, it is usually a metaphor for how we are to live. It is important for us to strive to live a consistent Christian life; one that brings honor and glory to God and points others to Jesus. For this to happen, we must “walk in the light”. In order to walk in the light one must turn from sin and follow Jesus. If we are genuinely following Jesus it will be impossible for us to live in sin. Jesus said in John 8:12 “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.” Jesus encourages His followers to walk in Him (as the light of the world); if we will do this, we will not walk in darkness.

To “walk” implies progress; it speaks of moving forward, specifically moving forward for the Lord. When we walk with Jesus we are walking in the light, as we do this, we are taking steps toward Christian maturity.

There is another metaphor that is supplied in this passage and it is the word “light”. Light refers to life, happiness, righteousness, or understanding. True light comes from the Lord. James refers to God as “the Father of heavenly lights”. He says in James 1:17 “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

Elsewhere in the Bible “light” is used to illustrate God’s glory (Psalms 104:2 ; 1 Timothy 6:16), God’s purity (1 John 1:5) and God’s wisdom (Daniel 2:22). Scripture also tells us that saints are guided by the Light of the Lord. In Psalm 27, David said, “The Lord is my light and my salvation”. In Psalm 36:9 he said, “By means of your light we see light”. In John 1:9 John the Baptist called Jesus “The true light that gives light to everyone...”. In John 3:19 Jesus said, “This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil”. I could quote numerous other passages that prove that God is light and His children should walk in the light.

Walking in the light is not an impossible task; in fact God has provided us with everything necessary for us to obey this command. Let’s take some time and consider the subject “Walking In The Light”. First of all:

TO WALK IN THE LIGHT ONE MUST BE IN THE LIGHT

I know this sounds simplistic but it is essential to this process. For me to walk in this building, I must be in this building. In the same way, for me to walk in the light, I must be in the light. Christ is the light of the world, so for us to walk in the light, we must be “in Christ”. The only way that this is possible is because God has revealed Himself to us.

John references this in the previous passage. He says in 1 John 1:1 What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have observed and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life — 2 that life was revealed, and we have seen it and we testify and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us — 3 what we have seen and heard we also declare to you, so that you may also have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.