Walk in the Light (Lent 11, 2017)

Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD. (Isaiah 2:5)

What does it mean to walk in the light of God’s presence, the light of the LORD? 

Well, if walking in darkness is increasing ignorance of God’s ways and rebellion against Him, then walking in God’s light ought to mean continually learning the ways of God and increasingly following Him.  That is the only way to find favor in His eyes. 

Use it or lose it.

I must admit, I look at the headlines every morning and wonder … do these people have no fear of God?  To willingly do what is evil, to spread lies, to plot secretly, to covet power … these things aren’t the way to please God’s heart.  They go from bad to worse.  Is this the modern equivalent of Pharaoh’s hardened heart?

If you read that entire passage in Isaiah 2, you’ll find it’s talking about the Last Days.  There is the mountain of the LORD, a place of God’s temple and worship and it’s open to all who are willing to learn His ways, walk in the light of His paths, love His law, cherish His word, and submit to His judgments. 

But then there’s the rest of the chapter. 

It’s devoted to the Day of the LORD and describes those who refused God’s light. 

These evildoers burrow deeper and deeper into darkness.  They try to hide from the light of God. 

Go into the rocks, hide in the ground from dread of the LORD and the splendor of his majesty! (Isaiah 2:10)

Yeah, it’s in Isa 2:10, 2:19, 2:21—the same thing of finding a hole, a crag, or a cave in which to hide.  (Good grief!  As if God can’t see in the dark or have the ability to peer into a cave. Only arrogance could blind people to God’s superior vision and wisdom!)

Those who walk in the light of the LORD do not need to fear the Day of the LORD.  Everyone else needs to worry…big time.  Way too many people have absolutely no fear of God.  But use it or lose it!  They’re fools in darkness. And God promises that they’ll learn someday what they now refuse to believe, but only when it’s too late for them.  Friends don’t let friends walk in darkness when they can walk in the light of God.

Fun fact of light:  Use it or lose it from National Geographic.   “Few animals have ignored the warning “use it or lose it” as spectacularly as the Mexican blind cavefish (Astyanax mexicanus), which no longer has eyes… “Any animal that lives in permanent darkness and doesn’t need vision to find food or avoid predators won’t really need their eyes or visual centers in the brain,” adds Moran, currently a researcher at Seafood Technologies Group, Nelson, New Zealand.  Indeed, the findings also show that blind A. mexicanus have a significantly smaller midbrain, the part that deals with vision….

These omnivorous fish compensate for lack of vision by eating just about anything they can find, including scavenging dead animals and plants.”

For further thought:

In Isaiah 2:11 “The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled and the pride of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.”  How are light and sight connected?  How are light and knowledge connected?  What trait of humanity will be exposed in God’s light?

In Isaiah 2:22 “Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?”  How does this form the moral of the story?  And how does light give us life?

Thank You, Father, that You sent Jesus to open the eyes of the blind so we might learn to walk in Your light.  We praise You for Your goodness and Your holiness.  May we never take for granted that You alone are God and all will be humbled before You.  Be glorified in us today.  Amen.