Do You See That Light?

This photo does not belong to me. Please do not copy or download the graphic. The copyright belongs to the picture taker. She took more than one shot of the light.  I can assure you they were on her phone, as taken, untouched by any editing software.

What are the odds of sunlight coming through a cloudy day to reach down to a single grave? How often have you seen such a photo. It struck me due to the specificity, and I asked if I might use it in a blog. The photographer kindly gave permission. She and I hold a belief that God speaks to us in many ways.

One way is as the light of the world:

In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. (John 1:4-5 KJV)

As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. (John 9:5 KJV)

The more you read about Him in the Bible, the more you can understand how appropriate it is that He tells us that He is the light. As long as H was in the world.  Then, He left this world, and left people to continue the work:

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. . . . Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5:14,16 KJV)

I’d like to send you to to John’s seventeenth chapter, where Jesus is praying prior to His betrayal. The Pulpit Commentary says this about the passage to show it was not conceived by a disciple:

The author of the Gospel does, however, draw rather upon his memory of that night than upon his philosophical imagination for a passage which surpasses all literature in its setting forth the identity of being and power and love in the twofold personality of the God-Man. We are brought by it to the mercy-seat, into the heaven of heavens, to the very heart of God; and we find there a presentation of the most mysterious and incomprehensible love to the human race, embodied in the Person, enshrined in the words, of the only begotten Son.

In verses 20, we know who is the subject of the prayer, and in verse 21 we are given the “Why?”:

Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. (John 17:20-21 KJV)

If you choose to believe in Him, you’ve been prayed for centuries ago. Even better than that:

Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. (Romans 8:26 KJV)

We have an intercessor that never tires, always available, and able to speak for us when we don’t have words or have no idea what to say. He planned it that way, knowing He was going to tell us to:

Pray without ceasing. (1 Thessalonians 5:17 KJV)

And we were to do that with thanksgiving:

Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; (Ephesians 5:20 KJV)

That’s hard to do. Right now it’s hard to give thanks for what is happening in our nation, and often as hard to give thanks for what is going on in our own lives. But we are told to pray without ceasing and give thanks for all things. How is that possible?

It is possible because we can see the light of the world. And every once in a while, God sends a reminder that His light still shines in this world. Not everyone will catch a glimpse of it because they do not accept its existence:

But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. (2 Corinthians 4:3-4 KJV)

My deepest concern is for people I know – and love -  who state they do not believe. They deny the existence of any god, denying one that love us as well as one that fights Him. They have heard the message. Almost every one on the planet has. It should concern Christians, and we should pray for them if only because we also believe:

Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. (Matthew 24:44 KJV)