Just as John tell us (in 1 John) that God is light, in the first chapter of the Gospel of John, the Apostle tells us "The light keeps shining in the dark, and darkness has never put it out." (John 1:5) Light is one of the central symbols in the Christian tradition, but it also held an important place in Jewish symbolism as well. From Hebrew Bible times, light was a symbol of God. Jehovah guided ancient Israel (by night) in the form of a pillar of light. A light was kept burning constantly in the ancient temple to symbolize God's presence and glory. Indeed, one of the very first things God did at the beginning of the creation was to say, "Let there be light."

Jesus called Himself, "the light of the world," adding "those who follow me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life" (John 8:12). Jesus came into the world at a time when the religious world was in darkness. By the first century, prophets ceased to walk among the Children of Israel and the leadership of God's people had become not only corrupt, but also more political than religious. Jesus explained, "if a man walks at night, he stumbles because there is no light" (John 11:10). Thus, God sent Christ to bring light back into the world, lest we spiritually stumble.

John says much about light in his Gospel and in his epistles. Essentially, John sees the world as a spiritually dark place-and he indicates that anything which has darkness in it cannot be of God. In essence, John tells us how we can know if something is good or acceptable to God. We simply need to know that God and Christ are light, and that they have no darkness in Them. Thus, if something we're tempted to think, do, say, support, or embrace has any measure of darkness in it, it can't be of God and we can know that Christ would not have us partake.

As John says, darkness can never extinguish the light. Only we can do that. So, ask yourself, do you love light more than darkness? Is there any darkness in you or in things in your life? Are you discerning enough to sense the darkness from the light? And do you have the spiritual strength to seek light, shun darkness, and thereby bring the presence of Christ into our world?