John 8:12

When Jesus spoke to them again, he said, “I am the Light of the World. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Our dog is over 15 years old. For those of you who know dogs, that is old. One of the ways she has started to show her age is her eyesight. She has cloudy eyes so she has a hard time seeing things. Her depth perception is out of whack. And sometimes she struggles to see in the dark like she used to be able to do. To help with that, we will pull out our cell phone flashlight to help her see where she’s going. It seems to help.

That always reminds me of the divine flashlight we have for our everyday life in our Savior Jesus. We need him to shine in our lives because without him, we grope around in the darkness of unbelief. He shone the light of his Word into our lives, revealing our desperate need to be saved, and gave us faith and his grace.

He continues to be the guiding light in our lives. We follow him because he is the shining light of God’s love. His death and resurrection become our light and life at all times. We draw peace from his presence and confidence to live in this world. He answers our questions and provides the guidance for what our hearts and lives should look like. He provides the words for our lips to speak and sing of his glory. He shines light into our lives with gifts of his grace, mercy, presence, love, and Word. Following him means we will possess eternal life in heaven.

Jesus is the light of life. You have him. Follow him always through the darkness of this world.

Pastor Jeremy Belter