Walk In The Light

John 12:35-36 (NLT)

Jesus replied, 'My light will shine for you just a little longer. Walk in the light while you can, so the darkness will not overtake you. Those who walk in the darkness cannot see where they are going. 36 Put your trust in the light while there is still time; then you will become children of the light.'

After saying these things, Jesus went away and was hidden from them.

The disciples were at a point where the Messiah, their teacher and friend whom they’d been walking with for three years, was about to be taken from them. Jesus urges them to spend time with him, the Light, while he is still with them, so that they can resist the darkness in the world.

I was recently on the youth team at Spring Harvest, and I was struck by something a guest speaker said. He described a situation familiar to many of us who grew up going to similar events. We would attend these camps, and, over the course of the week, become increasingly passionate for the gospel, experiencing the Holy Spirit so powerfully and vowing to go and tell the world about Jesus! Then we would go home and the feeling might linger for a time, but the fire would be quickly extinguished by the busyness and mundanity of everyday life. 

This speaker pointed out that, leaving these conferences, delegates go from spending six hours a day intentionally seeking the Lord to spending almost no time with him, and then wonder why their relationship with God doesn’t feel as strong. (Sunday 'highs' to weekday 'lows' is another example.) It should be no surprise to us that our faith levels are higher when we spend more time walking in the light, for that is how we are not overcome by darkness and thus lose our way.

In verse 36, Jesus says that it is when we ‘trust in the light’, that we become ‘children of the light’. Our church vision is to be ‘light for the city’. How do we do this? By walking with the light day by day, that is spending time with Jesus, and from that, we carry the light into our unique spheres of influence.

Prayer — Father, thank you that you want a personal relationship with me. Holy Spirit, fill me afresh and help me to walk with Jesus in my day-to-day life. Help me not to depend on 'Sunday highs' but to meet you intentionally throughout my week.