Living in the light

John 3:21 (NIV)

“But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.”

The third chapter of the gospel of John is famous primarily for two reasons.  First, it tells the story of Nicodemus approaching Jesus at night and Jesus telling him that he must be born again. Second, John 3:16 is probably the most quoted and most famous of all verses in the entire Bible.  So with so much attention on these two segments of John 3, verses like 21 become obscure as do other verses that follow famous verses.  Another verse in John 3 that tends to be overlooked is verse 36--- “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.”

In John 3:20 Jesus said that “Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed “, then He contrasts this truth by using the word “but” to make the claim in verse 21.  What really caught my eye reading this verse very recently was the connection between light and sight.

The Greek word used for light is “phos”, meaning “brightness” or “make manifest”.  Metaphorically, light in the context of God means “of truth and its knowledge, together with the spiritual purity associated with it”.  So light and truth are connected; you know the truth, you are in the light, if light fills your heart and life, you know the truth.  Light and truth are also connected to purity.  Jesus said in Matthew 6:22 that “…..if your eye is clear (pure), your whole body will be full of light.”  What profound truth. 

Jesus is teaching here that if you live by the truth, you will be in the light (not the darkness that He spoke about in John 3:19-20) and what you do with your life of light, guided by the truth, will be seen by God.  Think about this, think about this very carefully.  Meditate, if you can, on what this is really saying to you.  Here is what it is saying to me:  The truth is the Word of God (John 17:17) and the person of Jesus Christ (John 14:6, I John 5:20).  If I dedicate my life daily to live according to the word of God and under the lordship of Jesus, my life will be filled with and full of light.  I will be one of the lights of the world (Matt 5:14) and the light of my life will be readily seen by others and in the sight of God (Matt 5:16).  I John 1:5 affirms that God is light and in Him there is no darkness (evil) at all. 

I hope that you desire your life daily to be filled with light, not darkness.  The good deeds that you do will be clearly seen by God even if others don’t see them.  If fact, your motivation for doing good deeds for others is not so that you will be noticed and acknowledged.  One of the late John Wooden’s quotes comes to mind here:  “You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.”  

Darkness is the absence of light.  There is no such thing as darkness per se, darkness results when light is gone.  So, without the light of the truth, darkness prevails.  May darkness not prevail in your life.  Examine your life and determine where darkness needs to be replaced by light.  And may your light so shine amongst others that God will be glorified.  That is your mission on earth. 

“Darkness is only driven out with light, not more darkness.”—Martin Luther King, Jr