Follow the Light

Article by site founder, Connie Rice

“Follow the Light” has become a bit of a cliché, but how do we generally respond when the lights go out when it is dark? Don’t we look for a flashlight, find a candle to light, or follow a light we see farther away so we can see. Blind people generally rely on the eyes of another person or a trained dog to guide them. Interestingly, the Bible uses the concept of light and darkness to contrast good and evil repeatedly. Our world is broken and evil causes much pain and suffering. The prince of this world is Satan, but God is sovereign over everything. We are given the choice to follow the light or to be in darkness.

“I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;
I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth.
These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.”

Isaiah 42:16

From the beginning, God had a plan to provide a way of salvation for people because He knew we couldn’t save ourselves and that our sin separated us from Him. Those in the Old Testament were saved by their faith in the promised Messiah. Jesus Christ came into the world as fully human and fully God, living the perfect life that humans are unable to live. He came to sacrifice His life for the sins of all mankind and rose on the third day, victorious over both sin and its penalty of death. Jesus is heaven now and beckons us to His light.

“We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete. This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all.  If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.  But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His word is not in us.

1 John 1:3-10

Those who place their trust in Jesus Christ for salvation will not only have eternal life in heaven with Him, but can live in His light here on earth – even in the midst of darkness. Through the Holy Spirit that indwells believers, we have access to the power to say no to sin in our lives and to reject darkness with its many other Ds (see below) and choose God’s way instead. Life on earth is hard for everyone, but we have a Savior who wants to walk with us through challenges, growing us into His likeness along the way. The lists below compare the contrast between living in darkness or following the light:

Even though we have access to the light as believers, we need to continually choose to follow it. Our sinful nature will still try to take us down paths that are rooted in selfishness, lust, greed, etc. In order to follow the light, we need to be intentional about humbly seeking the Lord with our whole heart, mind, strength, and soul. We also need to read His revealed Word (the Bible) every day and reread it repeatedly throughout our lives so that we do not fall prey to Satan’s tricks and lies or to our own sinful tendencies.

Below are names of Satan and a partial list of the names of Jesus (alphabetical listings) given in Scripture. It’s a worthwhile exercise to review them:

After reading through the contrasts between darkness and God’s way and Satan and Christ, perhaps it can help those who do not yet believe understand why believers in Jesus want so desperately for others to find and follow the light themselves. As people understand what is at stake eternally (eternity in heaven with Jesus or eternity in hell without Him), they are more motivated to share the gospel (good news) with those they care about. This is literally the most important decision we can make in our lives. Hopefully, “Follow the Light” won’t be dismissed as a mere cliché. Those who are still unsure are challenged to pray and ask the Lord to reveal Himself to you – with expectation and without doubting. He wants to know each person He has created and to have a personal relationship with them.

“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in M will never die. Do you believe this?’ ‘Yes, Lord’, she replied, ‘“’I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world’.”

John 11:25-27

“To the Jews who had believed Him, Jesus said, ‘“’If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

John 8:31-32

We don’t have to live in darkness – we can seek the light, Jesus Christ. He can open our eyes to see the truth and bring us into His marvelous light. He will transform and bless us on our journey. It’s not an easy or comfortable path, but we are never alone when we keep our lifeline close to our wonderful Savior. He will help us while we’re here until He comes back or takes us home to heaven.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in Me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.’ Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’ Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me’.”

John 14:1-6

“Then Jesus told him [Thomas], ‘“’Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed’.”

John 20:29

© Constance Rice 2022