It’s dark, but we carry the Light
Three women who were abducted in Ohio about 10 years ago were
found yesterday. They were locked in a house in a neighborhood where there was
also a 6 year old child. All indicators point to some twisted kind of slavery,
most likely sexual in nature. (Women
found in Cleveland) One woman managed to open a door wide enough to
extend her hand and to scream for help, leading to their discovery and the
arrest of three men. Sex slavery is one of those things you just don't
think ought to still exist in the 21st century, do you? But, we're a sex-crazed
world it seems. Our culture has sunk to awful depths. The coarse nature of our
society reveals itself in the callous disregard for life, the willingness to
look past the suffering of the poor, the poverty that traps generation after
generation in this ‘land of opportunity.’ Our entertainment solves
every social problem with bigger guns and more police. We are fearful and
willing to give away our freedom to hang onto some sense of safety. We’re
angry, too. Listen to the harsh words that flow in our political
conversation. Observe the ways that we argue with one another over the
most trivial of issues.
Yes, it’s dark out there! Why? We have turned to idol worship. “Come on, Jerry. First, slavery; now idols? What are you thinking?” The Truth! In Romans 1, we learn that we are made to worship. If God is removed from the center of our lives, we will give ourselves to something else. In The Message, we read: “What happened was this: People knew God perfectly well, but when they didn’t treat him like God, refusing to worship him, they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives. They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life. They traded the glory of God who holds the whole world in his hands for cheap figurines you can buy at any roadside stand. So God said, in effect, “If that’s what you want, that’s what you get.” It wasn’t long before they were living in a pigpen, smeared with filth, filthy inside and out. And all this because they traded the true God for a fake god, and worshiped the god they made instead of the God who made them—the God we bless, the God who blesses us.” (Romans 1:21-25)
Before you jump to the conclusion that this all happened
because the Supreme Court removed prayer from our public schools, think
again. The sin of America is much, much deeper than a formal prayer in a
classroom. Long before kids stopped praying the Lord’s Prayer in 1st
grade, we had headed in a godless direction. Fifty years ago, we
took a serious turn in direction. We substituted money for God, personal
fulfillment for spiritual devotion, chasing our own happiness for finding
meaning in His ways. It did not happen all at once. The seeds that
produced the present harvest were planted a century ago.
But, all is not lost! God remains Lord
of history. The Holy Spirit still empowers those who love Him. And, Light
still streams from those who know, love, and adore the Living Lord Jesus.
"For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and
ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine
out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of
the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." (2
Corinthians 4:5-6, NIV) If we live in
the Light, letting God guide us into truth, we will become Light-bearers. “Let your light shine,” Jesus says.
The light in us must not be dimmed by our own
disobedience. Read this word from the
Word and pray for the power to live a holy life that reveals the light. "When Christ, who is your life,
appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death, therefore,
whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust,
evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God
is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now
you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice,
slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since
you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new
self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator."
(Colossians 3:4-10, NIV)
Are you part of the solution (building the Kingdom of Christ) or part of the problem, living in the darkness of sin?
________________
Shine, Jesus, Shine
Shine, Jesus, shine!
Fill this land
With the Father's glory.
Blaze, Spirit, blaze!
Set our hearts on fire,
Flow, river, flow;
Flood the nations
With grace and mercy.
Send forth Your word, Lord,
And let there be light!
Lord, the light of Your love is shining,
In the midst of the darkness shining.
Jesus, Light of the world shine upon usm
Set us free by the truth You now bring us,
Shine on me shine on me.
Graham Kendrick
© 1987 Make Way Music (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.)
CCLI License # 810055
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