Walk in the light

If you use Facebook you will know that every so often Facebook reminds you of an anniversary of a post or image which you uploaded onto Facebook.  Two or three weeks ago, I was reminded by Facebook of an image from our first winter in Leicester (2012).  It was an image of Sue’s car, which was parked on the street outside our house.  I took the photo because the car and the street were covered in several inches of snow.  It was interesting to be reminded of that time, especially as I can’t remember many similar periods whilst we have lived in Leicester.  I quite enjoy snow, although I appreciate that it can cause problems for some.

The 2019/20 winter has been fairly mild as winters go (global warming?)  Having said that, we have had a few cold snaps when the night temperatures have dropped below freezing.  A couple of weekends ago was one time when we awoke to a layer of frost outside.  As I made my way gingerly down to church for the Saturday coffee and prayer time, I lost my footing several times on the icy pavements, and had to very quickly regain my balance to avoid ignominiously ending up in a heap on the ground!

Later in the day I was out walking again, and noticed an interesting, though not surprising, phenomenon.  Temperatures had remained at about freezing, and some of the pavements were still treacherously icy.  Those pavements which had received the sun’s warming rays, however, were free of ice.  As I walked down the road on which I live, I noticed a marked difference between the pavement on one side which remained icy and the pavement on the other side which was dry and free from ice because the sun had shone on it.  What a difference the light of the sun had made!

I was reminded of the words of Jesus when 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).  In other words, to put our trust in and follow Jesus is to walk in the light of his presence; our hearts are warmed and melted to become hearts of love and compassion, and we experience an increasing desire to walk in his way. 

The apostle Paul wrote, ‘For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light’ (Ephesians 5.8).  Paul reminds us that to walk in the warm light of Jesus and to follow him is to be transformed; it should be evident in our lives.  The apostle John gives an example of how this works out in practice:

‘Anyone who claims to live in God’s light and hates a brother or sister is still in the dark. It’s the person who loves brother and sister who dwells in God’s light and doesn’t block the light from others. But whoever hates is still in the dark, stumbles around in the dark, doesn’t know which end is up, blinded by the darkness’ (1 John 2.9-11).

As the light of God’s love penetrates our lives, so we should be becoming more like Jesus himself.  That’s some challenge!

First things first

The gap since my last blog has been a little longer than I usually like to leave, partly due to a sickness bug which both Sue and I picked up last week.  In truth, Sue contracted it first and then very kindly passed it on to me.  It came on me quite suddenly; in the early evening I began to feel unwell and very tired so I decided that an early night with a hot water bottle was a good idea (I rarely use a hot water bottle, but do find that when I’m ill a hot water bottle very comforting!)

After I’d actually been sick I felt a little better, but at the same time my energy levels began to deplete rapidly.  During the night I found it so hard to summon up the energy even to turn over in bed.  My brain would make the decision but my body would take forever to respond to the command.  I’m certainly no medical expert, but I imagine that my body was expending the majority of its energy in fighting off the virus (or whatever it was) that was affecting it.  It had decided that was a higher priority than responding immediately to my commands (and quite rightly, too!)

I was preaching recently about Jesus’ teaching on the kingdom of God.  When Jesus began to preach, he announced that the kingdom of God was drawing near.  Jesus not only spoke much about the kingdom, he demonstrated it, as people were set free from their chains of physical, emotional and spiritual bondage.  Something new was happening.  God’s rule and reign, God’s healing and salvation plan, was breaking into ordinary, everyday life.  Jesus himself said that he had come to bring ‘life in all its fulness.’

In response to the disciples’ request to Jesus, ‘teach us to pray’, he gave them the prayer which we call The Lord’s Prayer.  In that prayer he calls us to pray, ‘Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven’ (Matthew 6.10).  The importance of the kingdom is emphasised by his instruction, ‘seek first the kingdom of God’ (Matthew 6.33).  In other words, God’s kingdom is to be an utter priority for the follower of Jesus Christ.  Just as when I was ill last week my body made fighting off the virus an absolute priority, so we are to prioritise God’s kingdom – to be kingdom people.  Not, as Frank Sinatra would have it, “my way”, but God’s way!

Awesome wonder

A few weeks ago, I came across one of the most amazing video clips I have ever seen.  Have a look at this.

I showed the video clip in a church service recently, and then we sang (of course!) the popular hymn, ‘How great thou art’:

O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder
Thy power throughout the universe displayed

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art

The first four words of the Bible are immensely significant: ‘In the beginning God…’  It is not possible for our human minds to fully conceive, but before time and space came into being, there was God.  In that context, we are told that God spoke creation into being and so, ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’ (Genesis 1.1).  There are many passages in the Bible which describe the wonder of creation, and how in creation we can see something of the touch of the Creator.  For example:

The heavens declare the glory of God;
    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
    night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
    no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
    their words to the ends of the world (Psalm 19.1-4).

The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Christians in Rome, puts it like this:

‘The basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can’t see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being’ (Romans 1.20, The Message).

If we take time to ponder on the absolutely amazing creation all around us and have eyes and hearts which are open, then we will see something of God in his creation.  And doing so will cause us to stand (or kneel) in awe and wonder.