Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. Luke 11:35
“Do you ever wonder how the nocturnal animals are able to see to get around in the night? For many of them, God has given them special eyes that are able to see things that you and I cannot. When morning comes, many of those creatures that navigate easily in what we consider the darkness find a place to hide until the darkness returns. For them, the daylight is a problem that prevents them from seeing well enough to carry out their business. Daylight gives them the same disadvantage as darkness does to us. Spiritual light and darkness are the same; what some consider to be light is actually darkness. May that not be said of us, as our text warns.
We are living in an enlightened age, many will tell us. Things that people used to consider important are now cast aside, as people walk in a newfound ‘light’ that is actually deeper darkness. For example, the words ‘Thou shalt not kill’ used to be important. Not anymore, as women who have been ‘enlightened’ as to their rights over their bodies engage in unbridled and indiscriminate sex and then destroy the unborn children as an inconvenience. Morality used to be important, too. But that light has been replaced with the ‘enlightened’ attitude that morality is whatever you want it to be, and that things condemned by the Word of God as an abomination are accepted as normal and right, and those who stand for the morality of the Bible are condemned as troublemakers and criminals. The family as instituted by God used to be the pillar of our society, but has now become a fuzzy and meaningless thing as partners come and go at a whim and as marriage is considered an unnecessary option. If we compare all of this so-called enlightenment with what we find written in the Word of God, we find that what men are calling light today is just as dark as it ever was. As Christians, we need to be aware of what is darkness and light.
Who gets to decide what is light and what is darkness? 1 John 1:5 tells us that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we believe that, we have to believe that what God calls light is light. Psalm 119:105 declares Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. God’s Word is light. This means that anything that is in agreement with the Word of God is light. And anything that disagrees with the Word of God is darkness. There are no exceptions. It does not matter what the majority says. It does not matter what the most popular opinion is. It does not matter what people claim to have discovered or figured out. The entrance of God’s Word giveth light (Psalm 119:130). And the rejection of God’s Word brings darkness.
If we compromise with the ideas and attitudes and opinions of the world, the light that we walk in will actually be darkness. – Jim MacIntosh