Contemplate the difference of light from dark, day from night.
It’s undeniable.
Darkness isn’t anything on its own. Darkness is the absence of light.
Genesis 1:2 says in the beginning darkness covered the face of the waters.
The earth began in darkness. The universe remains in darkness, without the light that God created on the first day and the lights in the heavens that God created on the fourth day.
God saw that light was good. God does everything because it’s good. If it isn’t good, God doesn’t do it. We’re made in His image, but are we the same?
Matthew 5:16
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
I was reading in 1 Kings 10:1 about how “the fame of Solomon and his relationship to the Lord” drew the Queen of Sheba to him. Imagine that. Solomon was a light in his generation. An inspiration. He was renowned for what he accomplished and for his wisdom. But this verse shows us he was also renowned for his relationship to the Lord, which is where his wisdom came from.
Proverbs 2:6 (CEV)
Wisdom comes from the Lord. So do common sense and understanding.
This is our light that we can shine in the world around us. The world that is so dark.
John 8:12 (NKJV)
Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
If we have received Jesus Christ in our lives and benefit from His teaching, we are renewed and carry that dynamic energy, that undeniable difference that sets light apart from darkness, in our homes, in our communities, in our world. Every thought, every belief, every value, every decision should be based on this undeniable transformation.
It’s important we never lose lights effect over darkness within us, so that the world around us never loses its benefit. We are called to bring transformation, just as we have been transformed from darkness to light.
Solomon lost that beautiful ability when he departed from God's ways and embraced the darkness in the world around him. His wisdom became futile when he let go of his relationship to Almighty God. He lamented that when he was old and expressed in Ecclesiastes that it was all meaningless without the Creator, a chasing after the wind.
As a Christ follower, we are as different from the world as night from day, because of the light that comes through our relationship with Him.