Esotropiart

He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

I John 2:9-11

Is there a more obvious metaphor than this? The word "stumble" has two immediate meanings that come to my mind. The most obvious image is of a person physically tripping and nearly falling due to some obstacle or uneven ground. The second, referred to in this passage is stumbling in the way of sinning, falling away, losing sight of God and His truth, etc.

The connection between the two uses of the word stumble is ridiculously obvious, and I like how this passage describes it. If it's dark, you can't see. If you try to move around in such conditions, you are going to fall down and crash into things. Duh! In a spiritual sense, when we are not constantly attached to and looking to God, the only Source of Light in the spiritual world, we are basically guaranteeing failure and a life full of sin. Don't want to look to Jesus, and prefer to turn your back on Him, even if for just a little while? It's like turning off the light switch in a gauntlet full of ferociously spinning axes where the only path is randomly positioned platforms barely large enough to stand on, surrounded by vast chasms and bins of spikes at the bottom. You have to leap blindly to make it to the next platform, guaranteeing death and destruction.

Almost every video game in the world has levels with obstacles and platforms like this. A confident player can fairly easily traverse such things when he can see. Try beating a game where you can't see anything and there is no sound effects to guide you. You can't even see your character on the screen... it's one big black box. The only feedback the game offers is a big fat "YOU LOSE" every time your character dies, which is inevitable. That's the kind of "yippy skippy" fun challenge you are asking for by filling your eyes with darkness, entertaining evil, loving the world and its charms, and taking lightly your heavenly Father's instructions.

The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

Matthew 6:22-23 ESV

This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

I John 1:5-6

Okay, so that's good and fine, right? Everything said so far is fairly conceptual and not very practical, you say? Well, consider this. Have you sinned enough and are beginning to feel the negative effects of it? When you read Isaiah 1 do you, as I have many times, see words that describe how you feel sometimes (Click here to read Isaiah 1:2-6;16-20)? If you are still having "fun", you have a couple choices: 1) listen to God and take your life more seriously - turn your back on sin, even if it seems okay to you, and you are enjoying it, or 2) after some time of spiritual negligence, things will get out of hand, and you will suffer much loss. Sin is an infectious cancer that desires to claim your life.

So how do we keep from sinning? I think most believers know the answer to this question. They just don't want to invest the time and effort, stepping out of their comfort zone. It's easier to do things in secret and hope everything will be okay in the end. How do I know? Well, I'm a sinful person too. I've struggled with great and dark things and failed to turn to the Light for long periods of time, much to my detriment. I have suffered great loss as the result.

The answers are the simple, obvious ones we learned in Sunday school years ago, lessons with the power to keep us from sinning. Pray, read the Bible, gather with other believers, worship God in song, etc. You know those things that some people think should only be done "at church"? Well, realize the junk in your mind if "at church" is even in your vocabulary*. There is no "at church" as if it was a location or building. The kingdom of God is in our hearts. We are the church! Our weapons and armor against the darkness include these spiritual disciplines that some reserve only for Sunday gatherings.

Here's a challenge for you: do you find the longest book of the Bible the most boring? Psalm 119 is pretty stinking long. I used to think it was kinda boring because it seems David just says the same sort of thing over and over again. Now that God has opened my eyes, and His Light is in me in greater measure, I love the Bible and this passage that describes love for the Bible.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Psalm 119:105

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

Psalm 119:11

Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble.

Psalm 119:165 ESV

When we think of our lives and actions, we don't necessarily always think of such metaphors or apply them - like this one about stumbling in the dark. Perhaps it's about time we keep these things in mind and become aware of the darkened world we live in and even allow God's Light to expose the darkness still to be found in us. When we don't allow our lives to be exposed and permeated by the Light of Jesus Christ, we are quite literally blind. We will pay for our apathy and outright rebellion dearly, either in this life or the one to come.

If there was a theme to describe most of what I'm learning lately, it would be "Light versus darkness" and our access to freedom from darkness. It's not that I haven't read the Bible before by any means, but never before have I see so many references to this theme. It seems to be one of those concepts that is carried throughout Scripture. It's so compelling to me, that I'm working I've felt led to work on a project that will focus on this topic and how it applies to our lives as believers.

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* I'm not calling for some legalistic change of vocabulary. I also say "I'm at church" in various contexts. However, it is a wrong thinking if "church" is associated first with buildings and locations, and every once in a while realize that, "Oh yeah, WE are the church!" Hopefully we understand that, so that we don't get into the habit of only BEING the church when we are "at church".