Be the Light
by Michael A. Asher
It was a typical, quiet evening in our small town. Everyone in our home was at various stages of preparing to get ready for bed. We weren’t ready for the unexpected, but when the blackout happened and the lights went out, we were in total darkness. Even the street lights weren’t shining. I fumbled my way to my bedside table where I kept a flashlight for just such emergencies, only to find that the batteries inside had died. Without light to guide us, we were blind. Blindness can be quite frightening. A flashlight that won’t light your way is pretty useless.
Do you know what else could be considered useless? A person who isn’t living according to God’s divine plan for their life can be. Why would I say such a thing? God designed humankind, in its original form, to contain the Holy Spirit. In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were created perfect, which included perfect oneness with God himself. The Holy Spirit lived within their human spirits and enlightened every aspect of their lives. He guided their thoughts and communed with them daily. God’s original design for his greatest creation—the human race—was to be in perfect union with them, and they with each other. He was the light of life from the beginning.
What Went Wrong?
But when the moment of decision, the moment of rebellion, the moment of defiance came, when both Adam and Eve decided to declare their independence from God’s command to obey, sin entered the world and the couple became as two flashlights with dead batteries; they no longer had the power of God inside them. They spiraled down into spiritual darkness.
Even after this rebellion, God did not give up on those later born into the same darkness. After that fateful moment in time, every man and woman would be born with a sin nature. God loves us, even though we are all sinners. The apostle Paul assures us, “God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8, NLT). He desperately desires to reunite the Holy Spirit with our human spirits so that we can one day be one with him again. He provides us with the free will to choose to follow him and receive the gift of salvation, or to reject him and go on with life in our own way.
Making It Right
Wise King Solomon observed, “The Lord’s light penetrates the human spirit, exposing every hidden motive” (Proverbs 20:27, NLT). God is all about making things right, bringing the light out into the open. That’s because he is a God of justice. Justice is a term for what is right or “as it should be.” Sin is a crime against God and justice demands a penalty of death and separation from him for it. But, from the beginning of time, God had a plan to make everything right even though he knew humankind would choose to go their own way and disobey him. That’s why God sent his Son, Jesus Christ, into our neighborhood to pay that penalty for us, and make salvation available to all who believe in his name.
When you feel the frustration of wandering in spiritual darkness like Adam and Eve did after their rebellion, know this: The Lord has already provided the perfect guide for you to follow in your life. Jesus promised, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth.” (John 16:13, NLT). When you invite the Lord into your heart, the Holy Spirit becomes your personal comforter, counselor, convictor, and conscience. He fills your mind, will, and emotions with perfect truth. He uplifts your soul with the lofty thoughts of the Almighty God. He calms your emotions when no one else can. He teaches you to live and learn and grow as Christ would have you do. He directs your will to the purpose God has chosen for you.
God’s Word tells us:
“It is written: ‘What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived’—the things God has prepared for those who love him—these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit” (1 Corinthians 2:9-14, NIV).
Shining Bright
Jesus said in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (ESV).
He is the source of the light, but has called us to be reflections of that light in a very dark world—one that we see on display in the news and on social media every day. The Holy Spirit provides the light of life to every believer in Christ. Each one of us was designed to shine like a spiritual flashlight to the fallen world. 
The light within our hearts is the power of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us. He produces the light. Once you shine with the light of the Holy Spirit, you will never be useless, but you will be empowered to fulfill the purpose the Lord has chosen just for you. Embrace the light within you. Be the follower of Christ and the light to the world you were designed to be!
“Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people” (Philippians 2:14, 15, NLT).
Michael A. Asher is a financial controller who has nourished a lifelong love of the Bible by sharing God’s Word through creative writing.