“For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord—and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, Who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ.”
II Corinthians 4:5-6
There is no darkness so thick His Light cannot pierce it and no pit so deep that His everlasting Arms aren’t still underneath it.
Picture, if you will, yourself deep down in a cave. Your flashlight’s batteries have quit. You have no matches. . .which means you have no light. Anyone who’s ever “seen” the darkness of a cave realizes how deep and unnerving it is.
You can’t see your face in front of you hand, even if it’s only 1” away. You’re afraid to move, for there are many boulders, overhanging rocks and deep crevices all around you. So, you must wait until someone realizes something’s wrong and comes to your aid. For a while you cry out, “Please someone help me!” but silence is all you hear. And, soon you’re beginning to hear all the noises in the cave, wondering what unseen dangers lurk there you’d never known before.
Then, suddenly, you see a tiny, single sliver of light piercing the darkness.
It was just a flicker—and, for a moment, you thought your eyes were playing tricks on you.
But, then you hear someone faintly calling your name and you begin screaming at the top of your voice, “Here I am! Here I am! Please! Please! Come to me! Here I am!!”
Oh, dear Pilgrim, how we need that same desperate sense of our lostness if we are truly to be saved. Woe to him who reduces salvation to some “faith-formula prayer” where someone walks an aisle, prays a simple little prayer and is told “Welcome to the family of God!” Although salvation is a Gift bought at a tremendous price, it still is a work of God that arises from our deep sense of need of Him.
That’s why Paul said “We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord.” It’s easy to persuade someone to believe what you’re telling them if you’re a trustworthy person and they’re open to your presentation; however, it may well be they’re trusting in you and not the One Who raised Jesus from the dead and are still in their spiritual darkness.
For sure, there’ll be those whose greatest difficulty in coming to Christ is their reasoning, logic, deduction and induction, etc. Assuredly, we must all come as little children if we’re to come at all! But, the fact remains “enlightened eyes” (Eph. 1:18a) are a “Gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast” (Eph. 2:8-9). And, only those who realize where they are (“lost” at Wits’ End Corner—Ps. 107:26-27) will cry out to Him for salvation.
How wonderful it is “when the Light goes off”—or, is that “when the Light comes in”? Glory!! Yes, into our spiritual darkness and “blinded minds” (II Cor. 4:4) Jesus, “the Light of the world” comes (Jn. 8:12; 9:5). And, with that Light comes “Life, Grace and Truth” (Jn. 4:4, 14, 17-18). May the Holy Spirit help us today to engage in S.A.R. (Search-and-Rescue) as we go to those in darkness and tell them “the Light has come and they no longer need to be Darkness-Dwellers” (Jn. 12:46). Hallelujah!!
By Tom Smith Morning Manna Dated October 22, 2009
