Amy Boucher Pye

Tag: light

  • Devotional of the week: Walk in the light (10 in Fruit of the Spirit series)

    Photo: Angie Trenz, flickr

    For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. (Ephesians 5:1–14)

    One night when I was walking home after some meetings in Central London, I felt a strong nudge not to take the shortcut down the darkened side road. Not knowing if that feeling was from God or a passing fear flitting into my consciousness, I decided to go the long route anyway. I can’t tell you whether I was saved from a horrible act in the darkness, for I got home safely, locked the door, and breathed a sigh of relief. While passing that side street, however, I glimpsed a group of unfamiliar young men some ways down.

    The dark can be scary because bad things can happen to us there; darkness in the Bible is used as a symbol of the unholy trinity of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Here Paul is writing to the church at Ephesus, urging them to live in the light. His letter isn’t motivated by the need to correct a specific heresy or sin, but rather to spark their imaginations into the ways of God’s kingdom of grace and truth.

    Again the recurring theme of the old self and the new comes through. Once we lived in darkness; now we live in the life of God. Does Paul say we live in the light? No, he actually says we are light in the Lord. Now that’s a mind-blowing concept. We’ve left our old life behind – the one shrouded in darkness and sin – and now we reflect Jesus’ transforming light.

    One of my friends was mired in the occult until one day two Christians shared the good news with her. She wrote a big “SAVED” in her diary, saying that afterwards people commented on the light that shone through her eyes. May it be so with us.

    For reflection: Jesus: “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).

  • Weekly devotional: Light and dark

    “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles – the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Matthew 4:15–17, TNIV)

    Our world is filled with light and dark, and the latter seems to be winning lately. The flood of the #metoo statements in our social media feeds brings us sadness and pain. Governments seem corrupt; racism and classism seem to increase; we lose heart. We need the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, that those living in darkness would see a great light. We need Jesus to come.

    Darkness and light have levels of meaning in Scripture. Darkness implies a place where evil reigns. It nurtures anger, violence, adultery, and other sins of the flesh, as well as bitterness, pride, envy, greed and other sins of the spirit. The shadow of death closes in on the living, extinguishing all in its path.

    But God coming to earth through his son Jesus is the light that dispels all darkness and fear. As King David echoes in the Psalms, “The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear?” (27:1) With the coming of Jesus, no longer are we oppressed by the grey or black.

    In our fallen world, however, we still have the darkness. I remember when our community in North London was rocked by the news of a sexual assault in our local park. “Never in my sixteen years here have I heard of such a thing,” said one mother at the school gate. Where people don’t know Jesus, darkness will lurk – even in our carefully cultivated public spaces.

    We can respond with bitterness or anger, or we can work to spread Christ’s light, receding the darkness, bit by bit. As Paul wrote to the church at Thessalonica, “You are all children of the light and children of the day… Since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet” (1 Thessalonians 5:5, 8).

    May we not lose hope.

    Prayer: Lord Jesus, light of the world, shine in and through me, that you may dispel the darkness.