Thoughts for the Day

Then Jesus cried aloud: ‘Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness. I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my word has a judge; on the last day the word that I have spoken will serve as judge, for I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I speak, therefore, I speak just as the Father has told me.’

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

With a seven year old active grandson life is always busy, and a walk must be something more than a walk. During lockdown I created lists of things to find in the woods, but now there is a pack of cards which invite members of the group to be involved. So recently, on a walk, we took turns to pick a card, which said: "Hop ten times on one foot", or "Find a hook-shaped stick". I had one that said "Stand with your back against a tree trunk, close your eyes, walk six paces forward, spin round, and then try to find the tree again." It was disorientating, and I was scratched by branches before getting back to the tree trunk. The sound of a distant road helped, for without my sight I would have been lost.

John's Gospel is full of images of light from the beginning (John 1.1-4); we learn that John the Baptist is not the light (John 1.6-8); and later Jesus says he is "the light of the world", (John 9.5). The person who walks in darkness does not know where they are going, as I found out in the woods. For light gets rid of the darkness, but it can also show up the darkness. We cannot come to the Son, who is pure light, and remain in darkness. When we believe in Jesus we have been transferred into the Kingdom of God's beloved Son. Now we can begin to see the darkness, that is the sin, in ourselves and begin to learn to walk as children of light. We won't always get it right, but with Christ's help we begin to progress. We should notice one other thing - Jesus came into the world not to judge us, but to save us - He did this out of pure love!

Jesus Christ,
Light of the world,
when we turn our eyes to You
we can see where we are going.
Too many things in our life
do not reflect Your light,
and we acknowledge our failure.
May we learn to let go of all that
is dark in our life,
and as children of light
follow You into a brighter future.
Amen.