… as to a light shining in a dark place,
Summary: Peter leans on an illustration that would have been common in his day, but is not so common today.
Our writing style is like our accent when we speak. Everyone thinks of their speech as normal. When we hear someone from a different place speak, there are differences in how we say our words that betray where we are from. Each author of a biblical book writes in their own style. Peter’s writing style is very much his own.
Peter’s two letters are short and very concise. He is direct in his statements. He is action-oriented. He is also a bit of a poet. Today he uses a metaphor to help us understand his meaning.
He wants us to pay attention to God’s Word “as to a light shining in a dark place.”
This is a hard one for us to get our heads around. Thanks to modern technology, we are rarely in a “dark place” anymore. I sometimes laugh when I have to get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom or go to the kitchen. There are lights everywhere in our house. My wife has nightlights in the bathrooms, and every electronic device in the house seems to have its own glowing indicator light. The phones glow, the cable television box glows, the USB power connector plugged into the wall glows. Even the small fan in the bedroom has a power indicator on it that glows. Walking around our house at night is a bit like an airplane landing at an airport at night.
To appreciate Peter’s words, we have to find a “dark place.” The darkest place I know of locally is a cave up by Mt. St. Helens called the Ape Caves. The cave is a 2.5 mile long lava tube. It is very dark. When you are deep in the cave, away from the entrance, it is “fun” to turn off your flashlight and let your eyes adjust to the darkness.
In a photography darkroom, letting your eyes adjust to the darkness means that you can see better with very limited light. In the cave, it means that your eyes keep trying to adjust, but there is nothing to see. The darkness is so oppressive it can almost be felt.
Invariably, someone else comes down the trail in the cave, and the light of their flashlight appears in the distance. It is, as Peter says, a light shining in a dark place. Because of the absence of light everywhere else, the eye is drawn to the light. You cannot not look at it.
God’s Word is that light. It is a spiritual light shining in a spiritual void. It calls to us to pay attention to it.
Unfortunately, we have eyes that can see two kinds of light. We see the light of God’s Word shining in the darkness, but we are also able to see the lesser light of evil (Genesis 3:1-7). Like the electronic indicator lights that litter my house at night, these lesser lights distract us, each one promising to be closer and more interesting than the light of God’s Word. With so many distractions, we need God’s help to pay attention to the prophetic message he has given us. Fortunately, God is both forgiving and generous. He freely gives us his Holy Spirit so that we can discern the light of his Word from all the lesser lights (1 Corinthians 2:12).
Application: Pay attention to God’s Word. Read the Bible every day.
Food for Thought: In a world of distractions, how do you find time to read God’s Word?
I try to give God the first of my day. I have a rule I try to follow No Bible, No breakfast. I have to be in His word before I eat. Sad to say I’ve gone without breakfast many times. I need to feed myself correctly or I will be lacking throughout the rest of my day.
Mr. T,
I admire your Bible reading program! You have tied your physical discipline to your spiritual discipline. I believe that God honors such commitment!
I like T’s rule of no bible no breakfast (but mine would be no bible, no coffee). I have been lacking in this area for sometime. I have allowed the busyness of the past two years of caring for aging parents (one w/ Alzheimer’s), working FT, and being a single parent take over and let my self-care go. One of my main self-cares was time with God and being in the Word. Throw COVID in on top of everything else and closing churches down and it threw me into a tale spin. Online worship is not the same for me. More recently, I have been trying to reconnect my relationship with Him, though sometimes, my shame and sadness gets in the way as well as the dark news of the world. I feel like the darkest place in the world now, is our world.
I have always been a positive person and as I grew in my relationship with Him a few years ago, I was determined to not let worldly things get in my way. Of course, we all fall short and that is why only He is perfect and we need Him for our salvation.
Reading today’s devotional, this sentence screamed at me: “God’s Word is that light. It is a spiritual light shining in a spiritual void. It calls to us to pay attention to it. ” Oddly enough, today I was determined to be with Him before doing anything else today. My first stop, this devotional. Last week, all of the Jesus Calling devotionals were speaking directly to me. He has my attention.
It’s time to pick up the bible that’s next to my bed and return to His Word and reconnecting with Him. It’s time for no bible, no coffee.
Darla,
Thank you for sharing! You are an inspiration to me. You are not alone when you realize you need to be closer to our Lord. I, for one, find myself there all too often as well.
Thank you for the honor of being part of your day today!
I appreciate the comments ahead of mine. Good thoughts.
There really is no secret here. We simply have to make it a high priority. We should also realize that spiritual warfare is involved. We have an enemy that is good at distracting us.
Rich,
Thank you! We do have to make being in God’s Word a priority. One thing that motivates me is being aware of my spiritual need.
10-11-2021, 2 Peter 1:19d, In a world of distractions, how do you find time to read God’s Word?
With the fall of man our world was transformed from the perfect creation of our Holy God, into a broken piece of dirt. Humankind (now born with a sin nature) chose to turn from, reject God and elevate the unity of mankind and their scientific achievements over humble service to God. I believe this movement became defined as “the world” because of its “emphasis is on the physical” while denying the spiritual. It’s a world of spiritual beings confined to, controlled by physical bodies. The desires of the physical takes priority over the health of the spirit which begins the process of dying, as success is measured by what we have rather than what we give.
Our needs in this world are established and taught according to the priorities of the world and most widely defined by the psychologist Abraham Maslow. He divided them hierarchically ordered into five components: physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem and self-actualization……
ALL EYES ON SELF AS GOD IS LEFT OUT!
Our spiritual resurrection takes place the moment we respond to the conviction of the Holy Spirit, become aware of and turn from our sins in repentance. We turn to Christ, we receive His life in our hearts and begin living. We must feed our spirits to be successful in our constant battle against our old ways, and achieve a closer walk with God.
My desire and opportunity to begin studying God’s word came from God. At the same time I was required to fight the weekly opposition to my attending church each Sunday, daily opposition to study in preparation for Monday nights in fellowship with other Christian men, studying Gods word, printed in a book I could not understand, rather than watching Monday night football.
I have continued my daily studies and application of Gods word in my life by the power of God. I pray, ask for His strength and continue to step into the unknown as He illuminates what He desires me to learn. It is a battle, one we will only win as we trust in the power of God to feed those He has saved.
Thank you, Ron!
You bring to mind a couple of verses:
“Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ.” (2 Corinthians 1:21)
“Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.” (Romans 14:4)