Arise, Shine!

Good morning!!! Well, it is here, though some of my readers are already partially through this glorious Thursday. My granddaughter is at a church camp and I just sent her a text saying with that greeting – and this verse:

Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. (Isaiah 60:1 KJV)

That’s another one of those stand-alone verses that I really love. It’s a carry over from chapter 59 where Isaiah heard from the Lord:

And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD. As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever. (Isaiah 59:20-21 KJV)

Matthew tells us in 5:14 that we are the light of the world. In John 8:12, Jesus tells us the source of that light. In John 1:1-4 that light is defined. Sadly, we are also told:

And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. (John 1:5 KJV)

I am reminded of the story of the blind man Jesus healed in John 9. The Jews were trying to catch Jesus in lies and demanded that the parents or the man tell them that he was not actually blind, that it was a ruse and Jesus a sinner for false healing. If they could prove that Jesus had said he was the Christ they could cast him out:

These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. (John 9:22 KJV)

The healed man testified:

He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see. (John 9:25 KJV) If this man were not of God, he could do nothing. (John 9:33 KJV)

The Jews responded to his testimony as many people do today.

They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out. (John 9:34 KJV)

Jesus doesn’t.

Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. (John 9:35-38 KJV)

It’s your decision to be part of the light, or not. Arise – then what?