Light of Life

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 

– John 6:35

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”

– John 8:12 

So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. 

– John 10:7-10

For while we are still in this tent, we groan under our burden, because we wish not to be unclothed but to be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 

– 2 Corinthians 5:4

Jesus offers life to the world. This is the source of our greatest hope and our greatest mission.

I’m not sure why, but this morning as I prayed I found myself praying for individuals who wonder whether God really exists, who are searching for a life of substance, searching for hope, joy and satisfaction, but surrounded by pain and brokenness, filled with doubt, and whose experience suggests nothing is worthy of trust. I prayed that they might hear God’s holy word and experience Him as the living Word, that they might experience God stirring in their heart, that they might feel the burning of God’s Holy Presence as their heart softens and becomes fertile for His seeds to grow strong. I prayed that they might know with certainty that God is really who He claims to be and His promises are really true, and that God will send His people to encounter them and demonstrate and explain God’s love. And I prayed for God to open my eyes and ears to recognize opportunities before me.

As I prayed, passages came to mind regarding Jesus’ offer of life, and I was reminded of how He wove the notion of life through His teaching. Jesus is life (John 14:6), He came to earth offering life (John 10:10), whoever follows Him has the light of life (John 8:12), and He is the bread of life quenching hunger and thirst forever (John 6:35). Paul describes our acceptance of Jesus’ gift of life as being “swallowed up by life” (2 Corinthians 5:4), suggesting total surrender, total submission, absolute merging and unimaginable protection. And like a whirlwind my mind raced in a variety of directions.

I thought about people who hurt. Every day we encounter people who hurt, who long for satisfaction, who hunger and thirst for purpose, and while they may not know it, they long to receive the life that Christ Jesus offers. I thought about my personal witness and the many opportunities I miss, and I wondered whether I have unintentionally driven people away from Christ Jesus. I considered the possibility that a person could regularly attend church yet still long for the life that Jesus offers. And I pondered our purpose and how good it feels to take steps in line with it.

Jesus explains that He is the “light of the world” and He promises, “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). If we follow Jesus we have His light, which is the light of life. We also have His life and He came so that we might have His life in abundance. We know the words. They are familiar and they roll off the tongue easily, but do we experience His promise? Do we feel His life; do we know what abundance of His life feels like?

If we have Him and He is the bread of life extinguishing hunger and thirst forever, we should feel spiritually satisfied. If we do not, we should ask “why?” because if we are not experiencing His promise then either a) Jesus is a liar or God’s holy word is not true; or b) we are somehow failing to receive the benefits He promises.  

For reasons beyond the scope of this writing, I know with certainty that God’s holy word is true and that Jesus is God and that His promises are true. If we fail to experience His promises, perhaps we are failing to connect with Him in ways that allow us to experience His promises.

I have heard the question posed in many different ways, such as why is the divorce rate among Christians similar to the national average? Why are folks who wear nice clothes while dining out on Sunday afternoon just as likely to be rude to waiters as others, or perhaps more so? And really, the question being raised is, if Jesus dwells in the heart of Christians and Jesus is light, love and life, why do we fail to see evidence of His life flowing through people who claim association with Him?

As I ponder this, my mind drifts back to my prayer and I consider how our behavior is our witness. If our actions fail to show Christ’s light, others may see us as people who struggle in the darkness just as they do. And really, why should anyone desire what we have if our behavior suggests that we have nothing unique, or worse, that we are judgmental and unhappy?

As thoughts of the potential disconnect between the reality we experience and Jesus’ promises swirled in my mind, I got in the car for a short trip across the bridge to a meeting. As the car cranked the radio came on blaring Dr. Tony Evans mid-sentence. He spoke about prayer and of how sometimes we pray but we do not really seek God. He said that we might pray something like, “Father, thank you for this food, bless it and us into your service.” And that’s nice, but as we pray our focus is really on getting past the obligation so we can eat. He then told a story. He mentioned a young woman destroyed by the treatment protocol intended to kill cancerous cells rapidly multiplying in her body. Two pastors visited her hospital room. They got on their knees and cried out to God. They humbled themselves before God and acknowledged who it was they addressed. They genuinely sought Him and worshipped Him, praised Him, thanked Him and petitioned Him to act and to reveal His glory through the young woman. They truly communed with God and He revealed His light, life, love and His glory through them and through the young woman.

I’m not sure what point Dr. Evans intended to make because I turned off the car and ran into the meeting, but I considered that prayers are not necessarily equivalent, and the difference lies within each of us. Similarly, there are times when I study Scripture and the words come to life and other times they do not, but I know that if I stop and pray and ask God to enlighten my mind with His holy Word and I genuinely seek Him, I am more likely to experience a meaningful encounter. And so it is with worship.

Jesus says whoever enters through Him will find pasture (John 10:9); whoever follows Him will have His light of life (John 8:12); and whoever comes to Him will have the bread of life and will never thirst or hunger (John 6:35) because He is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). If I do not find pasture, if I do not have evidence of His light within me and I continue to feel unsatisfied, perhaps I am not continuing to follow, continuing to go to or continuing to enter through Christ Jesus. 

While the words could be read to suggest it is a one and done, once and forever sort of thing, experience suggests benefits correspond with a continuity of communion with Him. Perhaps I surrendered a while back, then I forgot and rebelled, and I need to surrender once again. I probably need to develop a practice of surrendering, seeking and yearning for Him each morning because when I am in communion with Christ I am far more likely to feel satisfied and far less likely to be rude, arrogant, angry or ugly. Perhaps we need to continuously consume His stream of living water, and perhaps this is why God’s holy word urges us to pray all the time. Like a light bulb, if we want to emit light we need to maintain connection to His power.

Jesus came to earth so that each person on earth might have His life and have it in abundance. He offers His holy gift of grace to everyone. I pray that we each continuously seize His holy gracious gift of life, that we each continuously go to Him, surrender to Him, follow Him and enter through Him so that we continue knowing His pasture, continue experiencing His satisfaction, and we never hunger or thirst again, and I pray this, not for our personal pleasure, but so that others might see evidence of God’s glory flowing through each of us and desire what we have and God will be glorified through it all.

The world is filled with people seeking satisfaction, wholeness, life. They seek exactly what Jesus came to give them. May you experience His life abundant today, tomorrow, always so that others might come to experience Christ Jesus through you.