Stay in the Sun.

James 1:13-17

Darkness is the absence of light. The two are by definition, complete opposites. Night and day, goodness and evil, black and white, and darkness and light. When one is present, the other can take no part, lest it become altogether a new thing.

The Lord Himself is Light, therefore the things of darkness are nowhere to be found in Him. The Lord cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt others. Why? Because He is the Light and temptation is of darkness. Thus, when we find ourselves tempted, we know it’s not the Lord tempting us but rather it’s the evil nature embedded in our wicked hearts pulling us away from the Lord’s desires for us. It comes when we think that we know best- that somehow my desires have become greater and better than the Lord’s for me. And when those tempted thoughts are left undealt with they grow and eventually we find ourselves lured away from light and surrounded by complete darkness. Temptation doesn’t start as this fully developed darkness and death. It starts so small- just a speck of darkness. Just one little thought. But even the smallest speck of darkness can grow and in the end produce a hopeless death.

But the Lord, being ALL good and ALL perfect (having no darkness in Him) choses to save us from the dark that is within our blackened hearts. He is the one constant Light in this dark and cold world. He is the Sun. He is the Son. And His perfect love casts no shadow of darkness. He is ever radiant and shines on all who choose to step into the light He so freely offers.

I think so many times I can find myself thinking that the light that the Lord has isn’t bright enough. That the darkness in my heart is too great to be overcome. But I must not forget that it takes only a speck of light to illuminate and swallow darkness whole. No matter how dark or hard my heart grows, His light is always brighter and all I need to do is step into the bright and brilliant sun He freely offers me.

Application: This week, whenever I get a tempted thought or any thought that is not of the Lord (no matter how big or small) I will physically stop myself right there and ask the Lord to change and illuminate my heart.