The Light of the World
I thought of an object lesson I did a long time ago. They passed out a piece of black construction paper with a pin-sized hole in the middle. We were to take off our glasses (if we had them), look through the hole and read Scripture from our bible. The first thing I thought of was, “this is not going to work.”
I didn’t understand the science part of it. It has to do the light rays passing through the small hole which spread out making the letters appear larger. I was amazed when I looked through that tiny hole and could read all the words without my glasses.
Without my glasses, the words on the page are blurred, confusing and meaningless. Just as I need glasses to see and make sense of what I’m reading, I also need the Holy Spirit to guide me and make things clear. The Holy Spirit living in me opens my eyes to spiritual truth.
By nature, we are all spiritually blind because of sin. Just as the light passing through the hole makes the letters appear larger and clearer, the Spirit of God helps us see our sin and God’s saving grace in Christ. The Spirit reveals the truth when Jesus declared in John 8:12: “I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
Jesus lights the path ahead of us so we can see how to live and He removes the darkness of sin from our lives. When we looked through the hole, we didn’t focus on the darkness around it; we focused on the light.
This object lesson helped me understand how the Holy Spirit opens my eyes (heart) to God’s truth. God’s Word shows me when sin in entangling me and hindering my walk with Jesus. When we follow Jesus, the true Light, we can avoid walking blindly and falling into sin.
Have you allowed the Light of Christ to shine into your life?
As a follower of Jesus, do you reflect His light to the world?
