When God finally does come to earth as the promised Messiah, many of the people if not most are so caught up in their own lives that they do not recognize Jesus for who he is. It seems to some as if Jesus, Creator of the universe, is incognito. But was he, or was the problem with those who refused to accept who he was?
Q: Is Jesus the light of your life, or do you find yourself focused on other things?
I keep coming back to Romans 7 where Paul describes the ongoing battle between the spirit and the “body of death” that we live in. My answer is “Both!” Jesus is the light of my life and I am constantly distracted by other things. My hope and goal is more Jesus.
When I was young I used to hear the phrase from my grandmother “garbage in, garbage out” a lot in reference to how I spent my time and what came out of my mouth. Simply put, whatever I chose to focus my time on is what would reflect in my life. But I think this question asks more that just my focus, it asks if Jesus is my light, my guide, or do I try and make my own way., and Jesus is “along for the ride on Chris’s adventure.” I think the latter is more true than I am comfortable admitting. To pursue Christ in your life really requires a healthy sense of self-awareness. But that isn’t enough, just to be aware, and rather than try and depend on whatever “skills” I may have picked up in life on how to deal with adversity and anxiety, I should look to Christ.
Romans 13:12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
Chris,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts (and your grandma’s!) today. You remind me of another old phrase: “There is light at the end of the tunnel.”
In this tunnel we call “life” we walk in darkness if we are without Christ. When we first see Christ he might seem far off, a light in the distance. Yet as we draw near, we are surrounded by his light. It is our armor as you say, and also our ability to see what we should avoid.