Walking With GodWhy does the Bible have so many references illustrating God as light? Can you take a walk in the country darkness on a cloudy night with no flashlight? Of course not! You couldn't see to put one foot ahead of the other. Neither can you take a walk with God, without the light of His spirit within you. You would not be able to sense His nearness, comprehend His love, or know how to follow Him.
The marvelous gift of salvation awakens a place within, which becomes God's home in you. Christ is always there, from then on, any time you want to commune with Him. In the darkest times, His steady light shines within you, ready to comfort with love, and give strength and guidance.
When I first moved to the mountains, where there is snow on the ground for four months of every year, I learned something new. Every spring, as the snow melted slowly away, a surprise would be waiting in the patches of dirt. Tiny blades of green grass were already pushing their way toward the light. That grass had become aware of the light, while the snow was still covering it.
More surprising, after that, as we raked the heavy, rotting layers of manure and hay away, in the cow pasture, yellowing grass had been struggling to grow beneath the soggy mess. It wouldn't have made it, but it had been trying, in all that darkness, sensing the light above. It began to green up again when exposed to the light at last.
We raise sheep on our farm in the forest. Tonight, in the field, I laid my big flashlight on the ground, glowing on the snow, and walked away, to see what they would do. Looking back, I saw my whole flock of sheep immediately run over to it, to examine it.
All of life is drawn toward light; toward the warmth that the light creates. There is nothing else so all-encompassing and necessary for life. In all cultures, humans are instinctively aware of a "higher power". If they decide to turn away, they call themselves atheists. If not, they hunger spiritually, and search for God, like blades of grass stretch for the sun.
God created light first. Many times in the Bible, God is illustrated as light. Without light, all life on earth would die. Without light in our spirit, being salvation, our spirits will not reach Heaven.
* God is light. 1 John 1:5b
* I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. John 8:12b
Is there anything about another person, that encourages us as much as a smile? When someone has a sunny smile for us, it cheers us up. When I know that God is pleased with me, I always feel that He is smiling on me. His smile in my spirit is a light to me. I yearn for His smile in my spirit. I want to make Him happy, and I want Him to be happy with me.
That very yearning is what gets us going on a personal walk with Christ. It is the same as though He were standing there in flesh and blood, with a gentle, loving smile, asking someone to take a walk with Him. When you walk with someone, you stay close to them. Probably the reason for this is so that you can hear each other's conversation easily.
Walking with Christ, we are aware of His presence. This causes us to always have a yearning to hear Him; to know what He has to say to us. It draws us closer to Him. A personal walk with Christ is a spirit which is opening like a new blossom, to drink in His words like the flower drinks in the dew.
2004 Rosemary Gwaltney
