“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the
light of the world. Whoever follows me
will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’� John 8:12
A funny thing happened the other day when my team went out
to the Kathu waterfall for some rest and relaxation. We climbed stairs and stairs and stairs and
finally made it to the top of the waterfall.
At the very top there’s a place to go swim and just kind of hang out to
rest from your exhaustion from the stair master. When we got to the top, there were 2 Western
men and 2 Thai women up there. One of
the Western men was American so he started asking us some questions. He asked us where we were from and we all
told him. Then the very next question he
asked was, “So are you here in Phuket on a mission trip or something?�. It seemed like an odd question to be asked in
Phuket, but we told him yes and about what we were doing with the World
Race. He immediately got uneasy. We then asked him where he and his guests
were from. He answered the questions
quickly, and got out of there as fast as possible. He seemed like he had been caught – you could
see guilt on his face. We obviously were
just going to the waterfall to have fun, not to make anyone feel guilty or to
judge anyone.
I started thinking about what happened later that day. That man knew instantly something was
different about us. That we weren’t in
Phuket for a good time – but we were there for Christ. Light – that had to be it. That had to be what he saw. This light of life. It shines brightly out of
our skin and we can’t hide it. Where light is, darkness must flee. Light
reveals sin and evil deeds of the darkness.
Something that obviously scared that man or was something that he was
familiar with and didn’t want to have any part of.
“This is the verdict:
Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light
because their deeds were evil. Everyone
who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that
his deeds will be exposed. But whoever
lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that
what he has done has been done through God.� John 3:19-21
As Christians we are light.
We shine everywhere we go. I
shine here in Phuket, Thailand. You may
shine in Huntsville, AL. Wherever you
are shining, remember that this light we’ve been given is a light of life. It is a light of freedom, knowledge, comfort,
grace, mercy, truth, and love. It can’t
be hidden. Everywhere you go whatever
you do you will shine it, and others will notice. Some may be scared of it or some may be intrigued
by it and want to know more. Be willing
to share this light. Isn’t it worth it
to see others shine? Isn’t it worth it
to watch darkness flee? Isn’t it worth
it to light up the darkest places like Patong and know that nothing – not one
inch of darkness can ever touch you?
Thank you Jesus for Your Light of Life!
