Light. Darkness. I have been really struck by the contrasting of these two.
Recently, it was still dark much of the time during my first hours of the day. Now, I am a morning person. Since I was 12, I have been awakening from 5 to 5:30 every morning. The contrast that has struck me is how many more sunrises I am seeing now. Especially since we switched to Daylight Saving Time.
No, I am not advocating for this to happen on an ongoing basis. I constantly hear the laughs coming from Saskatchewan as the rest of us suffer through "springing ahead". What I do love is watching the different pictures God is painting in each sunrise. Yes, I am spoiled. We live in a mature neighbourhood and on our front lawn are three large trees. Two are pines and one is a spruce. They filter the light coming in through our living room window and add to the visuals in front of me. I take time each morning to watch this as I do my daily morning prayers. And what strikes me is the light that Jesus brings to each of the situations he is dealing with.
For example, the light of Jesus that dawns on all the people as he deals with three significant healings in Mark 5. The light that comes on the disciples in Matthew 15:29-38 is something that will carry down the centuries for the church. And then there is the darkness of death that Jesus overcomes by his presence. In Luke 7:11-17 and John 11 we see the power of the light of God in Jesus Christ. He has the power to heal; the power to restore; the power to bring life from death.
This is really important for us right now. Having been through a very dark period; a very isolated period, we need signs of life and hope. We find these in Jesus. Shortly we will begin to journey with him again. Shortly, we will head into Jerusalem one last time. Shortly, we will witness events that no one saw coming. And that last statement is most important because it is how our Triune God often operates. One of my favourite lines is to tell God and Jesus all my plans for the day. Invariably the Lord says, "Well, now let me see what I can do about that."
Our job is to stand in the light. Our job is to have the light in us. Our job is to go and take the light of Jesus to everyone we meet. So, what will you do with tomorrow's sunrise? Pr. Scott
Image: "Rays of Light" Petr Kratochvil Public Domain License
