Flipping the switch...

"But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His son, purifies us from all sin." -- 1 John 1:7

You know if a Bible verse starts with "But" there must be important stuff before that verse. Verse 6 of 1 John 1 says, "If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth."

I don't know about you, but that verse stings a little. All of us have walked in darkness at times in our lives. All of us have made mistakes and lived in ways that are not right. There is not one of us human beings that is perfect and does the right thing ALL the time...not one. But, how many of us want to be called liars? How many of us want to think about not living out the truth? We want to think we are good, we do good, we want to be good. But the real truth is...we are stumbling around in the darkness most of the time. Most of the time, we just can't seem to find the light...the switch seems to be out of our reach.

The Message translation puts those two verses this way, "If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we're obviously lying through our teeth - we are not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacraficed blood of Jesus, God's Son, purges all our sin."

If most of the time we are stumbling around in the dark, looking for the switch...knowing it's there, we can't find it, and we know that if we find in the light and walk in it we will be safe from our own sin...HOW DO WE FIND THE LIGHT SWITCH?

Verse 7 says that once we find the light, we will live a shared life with one another. I think that in order to FIND THE LIGHT SWITCH, we need to be living a shared life with others first. Sometimes, you just need someone else to guide you to the switch...someone who has been in that dark room before and knows where to find it. Of course, we need to put God first, and when we cry out to Him, he answers...He IS the light switch. But, this life is too hard to find God on our own, especially when we have been stumbling around in the dark for a long time.

I believe that is why it is so important to have a loving church family, or at the very least, some trusted friends around you. When you go through life WITH someone else...life is much easier, or at least it is easier to handle. As I said before, we ALL mess up...we ALL sin. The blood of Jesus covers that sin and purifies us. But, if you are stumbling around, alone in the dark, you don't see God's light shining through Jesus. Most of the time, the light switch is very near, but we need a friend to guide us there. And in turn, sometimes our friends are the ones looking for the switch, and we can guide them to it as well.

Since God is all powerful, all knowing and is everywhere all the time...don't you think that the light is ALWAYS on...we just have to find the switch inside ourselves to let the light shine through us? The switch is INSIDE us...in our hearts...so we need to touch each other's hearts, right? Don't claim to have the light already on when it's not...people will know because it won't be shining through you. You don't have to lie...God wants you to be living in His truth and light. It's as easy as...flipping a switch!

Reach out and touch someone's heart today...help them to turn on the light inside their heart so they don't have to stumble in the darkness anymore. And, if it's you that is stumbling...reach out...find a trusted friend who is already in the light and allow them to touch your heart. They can help you find the switch inside yourself and turn it on!