“The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.”  John 1:5 (NIV)

I was reading this Scripture the other day.  My first thought was “That is pretty abstract!”, and I found myself struggling to understand what God was trying to convey through John.  I knew that John was speaking of Jesus, but what really caught my attention was John 1:5.  Below, at the bottom of the page in the footnote, was a line that gave an alternative reading, which means there was room in how the Greek was translated:  “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (emphasis mine).

So I started to think more about light and the word “overcome”.  Literally, what light is, when do we see it, and how does it relate to darkness; praying that God might grant me some insight.  Pondering this, I had a startling realization–light shines into the darkness, and though, it seems overwhelmingly surrounded by it, darkness cannot overcome it.

You can have a room filled with nothing but shadows and darkness, and yet, with a small light on, the darkness cannot swallow that light even with the overwhelming amount of darkness pushing against it.  Thinking further, darkness only arrives when a light source is turned off or the sun sets.  It is dependent on light diminishing one way or another to allow it in, and so, it cannot penetrate light in the way that light breaks into its realm.  It does not arrive to block out sunlight; instead it is allowed in because the sunlight is no longer present on our side of the earth. Think of the last time you held a flashlight and how it lights up the area where it is shined.  Even as we cast shadows, they are not dictated by a source other then our bodies blocking the light.  Light is in control.

“Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.  In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it.”  John 1:3-5

Let’s look deeper at the definition of “light”.  Now I am taking this out of a old source, but one that I love dearly:  American Dictionary of the English Language written by Noah Webster, the 1828 edition, republished by the Foundation for American Christian Education.  Light is “that ethereal agent or matter which makes objects perceptible to the sense of seeing, but the particles of which are separately invisible.”  Though the definition is much longer, I paused at this sentence because I love the idea that light is what makes us see but, in and of itself, it is invisible.

Do you want to know how I think this applies to us?

God has given each of us the chance if we so choose to spread His light.  “There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John.  He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through Him all men might believe.  He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.”  John 1:6-8.

Now many think that shining the light means sharing the gospel, and yes, that is one of the definitions of light and one way to look at it.  But light is even more encompassing in its definition…it shines through an object making it perceptible to others.  And so, what if sharing the gospel is really about letting His light shine through our lives so others can see how God is present in it rather than just telling them about Jesus?  My friends, living the light is so much than mere words can convey…

Did you know that light’s definition also includes comfort, joy, felicity, happiness, and the understanding of judgment as well as deliverance and saving knowledge, both of which can involve way more than just salvation. How many of those characteristics radiate out of you?  How often do you allow God to use your life to bring comfort, happiness, and joy to others?  How many times have you helped gently deliver someone from something they dreaded trusting God in His desire to have you do so without your need to persuade them about His salvation in the first place…that it might be something more simple liking helping pay a bill or offering a dinner to a family who doesn’t have the strength or ability to make one?

Going further, light also means “having little weight” and “not tending to the center of gravity.”  I love those ideas as our world literally stands because of gravity, but light somehow is not controlled by it.  It doesn’t follow the trends per se, but instead goes wherever it can.  And what if the way it moves, how it acts, is meant to teach us something about how we are suppose to live?  To not be controlled by the “rules” of this world, but instead, to be a part of that which illuminates it so that others can see all those things that embody Christ in us.  More love, more joy, more comfort, more understanding, more truth and less judgment, heaviness, and oppression.

And what if we are meant to only be the instrument in which God shines His light to this world?  Our lives, not only our words, as testimony to His very existence.  John was quick to point out that those who are His are not the “Light”, but only witnesses.  Like John, our lives can become the cylinders by which His light passes, especially when we allow Him to transform them piece by piece, attitude by attitude, hurt by hurt, sin by sin, block by block, and step by step.  It is there in those changing moments with God–no matter how small–that we will make the best witnesses.  His light illuminating us so that others can see the real changes that only He can bring; the ones that people notice because they know you and know Someone has had to have helped you to make those difficult changes.

Light is not heavy nor burdensome.  It is not oppressive.  It is easy to perform, swift, active and nimble.  It is unencumbered.  It is not dense, strong nor violent.  It often eases burdens and purifies, with those just being a few of its characteristics.  So my friend, where do you stand in the Light and are you willing to let Him shine through you?

“And glory has come to Me through them.”  ~John 17:10