Topic: Are you walking in darkness?
Bible Reading: Ezekiel 47-48; 1 John 1
Memory Verse: “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:” 1 John 1:6 (KJV)
The opposite of light is darkness. Anyone who has walked in the dark before will understand the challenges associated with such a walk. It can lead to dangerous consequences because one could fall and injure oneself or even walk into very dangerous situations. That is why you need light. Light helps you to see what you are walking into and take the decision whether to go into it or not. So the fact that you are in the light does not indicate absence of challenges but you become aware of them and decide what to do before you encounter them.
Now walking in darkness in the word of God is a metaphor for how you live your life. It is living a life of sin, a life without Christ. “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” John 8:12 (KJV). Those who walk in darkness allow their flesh to lead them in their day to day living. And the Bible says in Galatians 5:19-21 (KJV), “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, [20] Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, [21] Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Do you regularly engage in any of these? then you are walking in darkness. It is not what you say alone but what you do that determines your path in life. That’s why the Bible admonishes Christians in 1 John 3:18 (KJV), “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.” It is therefore imperative that you choose to serve God to walk in the light as those who are self-centered are satisfying personal desires contrary to God’s instructions. But it is also possible to identify with Christ and yet live a self-serving manner. Hence, you are warned in 1 John 1:6 (KJV), “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:” This is what happened to Eve when she decided to listen to the devil on self rule! She was tempted by appealing to her ego to be on the same pedestal with God and she fell for it because she was not dead to the flesh (Genesis 3: 5-6). If the devil tempts you with the lust of the eyes or lust of the flesh or pride of life and you keep doing this, you are walking in darkness! But you have a way out now! Just go to the Lord, repent of those sins, ask for mercy, accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour and rededicate your life to obeying him and begin to walk in the light!
Action point: Examine your ways and recommit your self to obey Christ always through the help of the Holy Spirit.
Bro. Biodun Oyapero