Sunshine

John 8: 12

Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

I hope you were able to see the solar eclipse yesterday. It was a remarkable event; many observations to be made but there is one thing that really stood out to me. At the totality, the sky became like nighttime. What amazed me was how little sunlight it took to light up the earth again. As soon as the sun began to peek out, the earth began to look like mid-afternoon again.

It reminded me of Jesus. Without Jesus, there is only darkness. It takes only a bit of Son-shine to make the darkness flee. With even a little Son, hope arises. Someone said, “Wow, the sun is really powerful.” How much truer is that of the Son? He turns darkness into light and life. Where he is, there is no darkness. We need not stumble in the darkness because he lights our path.

Some people think those are just cute sayings but for those who walk in the light, you know they are true in a very real sense. Jesus spoke literally about himself in this verse. Without him there would be no light and no life. Without the sun, the earth would die. We need sunshine for plants to grow. Without the Son, I believe even the sun would die because everything was made through him and nothing that was made exists apart from him.

Over the next weeks you may continue to see news stories and pictures from the solar eclipse. I hope it will make you think about the glory of Jesus and his resurrection story. From the darkness of his death, light arose and through that resurrection breathed life back into each of us. Let all the earth praise the Son. Let all the universe, sing his praises. Thank you Father for sunshine; thank you more for Sonshine.

Shine On

Isaiah 60: 1

Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.

Yahoo! That is my commentary, Yahoo! I love seeing the good news of the Lord and this verse is light in a dark place (all puns intended). Look at verse 2: “For behold, darkness will cover the earth, and deep darkness the peoples; but the Lord will rise upon you, and His glory will appear upon you.” Dare I say it again? Yahoo! Isn’t that “Sonshine”? Remember the verse from Monday? It was Proverb 4: 18 and I titled it “Sunshine”. Look at God confirming His word to you today.

Though darkness fill the earth, light shines on the children of God. Yea! Jesus fulfilled and confirmed this. Behold his words, “Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life” (John 8: 12). Isn’t that what Isaiah wrote? Isn’t that what Solomon conveyed in Proverb 4: 18? Do you think God is trying to get a point across? I think He wants us to realize that even when there are clouds on the horizon and our view is bleak He is still the radiance of love, compassion, help, and all else shining on us. His love is warmth on our shoulders. His glory is our crown covering us from the head down. 

Your light has come, glory to God. He is the Lord Jesus Christ and you need his light shining through the darkness. Though the world may be cloaked in darkness, Jesus is light for his beloved. Don’t live in darkness, don’t let that cloud remain. Shout because our Lord breaks through all and shines his glory on us. Praise his name!