Walking In the Light

One of the perks of staying with my mother-in-law Norma in Chicago this fall is the proximity of Twin Lakes park situated within steps of her condominium complex.  I love to walk there and enjoy the ducks while watching the sunrise or the sunset.  


This fall I've also joined a study of the letters of John in a Bible study group at Norma's church.  There I've learned that John characteristically uses contrasts in his writings to illustrate principles such as love versus hate and truth versus lies.  John's words about light and darkness seem an appropriate meditation for my photos of the park.

^{I John 1:5-10, 2:9-11}

GOD IS holy, pure, true, good, loving, just, righteous LIGHT

⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 

I choose to walk in darkness when I fail to acknowledge my pettiness, irritability, pride, boastful sins.  When I refuse to be contrite for my sins, my professed "Christianity" becomes hypocrisy.

⁶ If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 

Confessing my sins means agreeing with God that these attitudes and actions are wrong.
By confessing these to God and to those I've wronged, I may once again join in the companionship with Him & others.

⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

As a Christian, I am to follow Christ and reflect His love, His goodness, His truth.
There should be no room for the darkness of sin in my walk.
Thank you, Lord, for forgiving my sins step by step as I seek to walk with you.

⁸ If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

 Just as this tree is blocking the light, my hate blinds me.
My relationships with others are an indicator of how closely I am walking with the Lord. 

⁹ Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. ¹⁰ Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. ¹¹ But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.

Lord, help me to confess my failings so I may walk in your light and reflect your love.

I love this quote from John Newton, the British slave trader who repented of his actions, who said, "Yet, though I am not what I ought to be, nor what I wish to be, nor what I hope to be, I can truly say, I am not what I once was; a slave to sin and Satan; and I can heartily join with the apostle, and acknowledge, 'By the grace of God I am what I am.'"