In a world of darkness, Jesus is the light (John 8:12). The reason so many are lost is they are groping in the dark, unaware of the light that will guide them to truth and life. Christ commissions every person who proclaims Him to be Lord to share the gospel with everyone we meet (Matthew 28:18-20).
We are to take the light of the world and shine it in the darkest corners of our planet. How will the lost ever hear of Jesus if we won’t tell them about Him (Romans 10:13-15)? The spread of the gospel is not a job we can leave for someone else to do. We are that someone else. It is our responsibility to point those in the dark to the way of the light.
Remember, we too were once lost, wandering in the darkness (Ephesians 5:8-11). We were without hope. If someone had not taken the time to tell us about Jesus, we would still be trapped in the mire of our sin. Many times, I’ve pondered how anyone could live this life without Christ. Where else would they find hope? In what else could anyone find true fulfillment? I’ve wandered far enough away from Jesus in my life to know there is nothing in this world that brings peace and happiness. Temporal pleasures quickly fade and never heal the aching hole in one’s heart when they are alone in the middle of the night.
No matter what those who reject Christ might pretend, there is only darkness in their world. Jesus is the light and without Him, there is only despair and longing. Jesus came to bring light into their darkness, and hope into their despair (John 12:46). He rescues those in the darkness and brings them into eternal life with Him. When we surrender to Jesus, the darkness is vanquished from our lives because His light overwhelms the darkness (1 John 2:8)!
What is true for each of us is true for the world at large. As more of us surrender to Christ, we can see the effects in communities and cities. The more people reject Christ and choose to live by the standards of this culture, the darker our world will become. So the endless battle of our lives is to shine the light of Jesus wherever we go. Our mission is not to save, but to go and tell (Matthew 28:18-20).
While Jesus was in this world, He was the light in the world (John 9:5). Now He has passed on that responsibility to each of us who follows Him (Matthew 5:14-16). Jesus is the light and we must allow Him to shine through us. Look around at the world in which we live. Darkness consumes everything. Evil is pervasive. But we know darkness cannot stand in the presence of light; there is no fellowship between the two (2 Corinthians 6:14-18). We know Jesus is the light. We know only His light can penetrate the darkness of this world. Don’t keep it to yourself. Get out there and shine the light of Jesus wherever you go.