Face the Light

 Okay so maybe you’re thinking that this whole “properties of light” series is going on forever, and I’m glad you thought of that, since today is the fifth and last “enlightenment” I’m going to share with you.

I mentioned already that light is (1) the source of all life, (2) the source of all power, (3) it’s everywhere, ie, omnipresent, and (4) it’s constant and unchanging. Now here’s #5: Light is infinite, which is to say, eternal.

Think back: do you remember a time when you took a flashlight (“torch” to you Southern Hemispherers) and pointed it at the stars? That beam of light is still going, you know. It’s dispersing as it travels, the beam getting wider and wider, but it’s still going, constant speed, never stopping.

Astronomers tell us that the universe, which as I said earlier is that area encompassed by light, is expanding. You get a big telescope, and every direction you look, you’ll see the light moving … and it’s moving away from us.  They can tell that by something called “red shift”. Look it up when you have a chance.

Even if there is an edge to the universe, it’s expanding, and it’s expanding at the speed of light.

Discussions like this are hard for simple-minded people like me, but when we speak of the universe, we have to speak of it in terms of infinity.

Now look with me to Revelation 22:13,  “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

If we speak of God, we have to speak of Him in terms of infinity. God is infinite, just as light is infinite. Wait, that’s not quite right. Light had a beginning, when God spoke it into existence (Genesis 1:3).

So what’s the point? Shall we establish a new religion, and worship a light bulb? If we did, it wouldn’t be new. Generation after generation have come to the same conclusion, that light is somehow synonymous with our Creator. But here’s the point: The men who wrote the Bible thousands of years ago gave God the same five properties of light that Albert Einstein discovered and described in 1938. And then in places like 1 John 1:5, they said, “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.”

This is an amazing analogy that that could not have been made before 1938, unless it was made as a direct result of the inspiration of God.

And the analogy doesn’t stop there. When it comes to inspiration, it’s good to point out things that show the truth and depth of the Bible, but it’s even better to understand the message that those things are telling us. Is it possible that there are some among us who are not totally in the light?  In our own lives, are there corners of darkness that persist, blinding us to Who God really is, and who we are before Him?

A Christian who doesn’t know what God wants him to do is standing in darkness.

A Christian who is unaware of the gifts God has given him when he invited Jesus into his life is standing in darkness.

A Christian who is unaware of his own authority as a child of God is standing in darkness.

Anyone who does not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is lost in darkness

As we soldier on into this new year, let’s re-discover the light that is ours. Come out of the shadows that may have frightened us, discouraged us, or led us into blindness. Let’s face the light, and show the way for those around us who are still stumbling.

I hope when we come to this time next year, we’ll be able to look back on 2021 and say, “It was a good year, made even better by the guiding light that brought us through it.”