Have Seen A Great Light

THE PEOPLE WALKING IN DARKNESS HAVE SEEN A GREAT LIGHT; ON THOSE LIVING IN THE LAND OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH A LIGHT HAS DAWNED. Isaiah 9.2.

The other day, my wife and I with some of our children and grandchildren went to a big city mall and spent the day there. Being a holiday, the mall was jam-packed. Thousands of youngsters, boys and girls with a sprinkling of older ones, roamed the place. No one would have thought that there was anything wrong with our world! But the truth is far from it.

Our newspapers reported lately that according to a recent survey, more than 98 per cent of lower high school students had engaged in sexual exploits. A staff of mine came to me crying that her little daughter was sexually abused by her own older brother. A friend complained that her handsome son is constantly pestered by college girls looking for sexual encounters. A Christian mother complained that her son brought his girlfriend home to stay in his room overnight.

Crime and violence are on the increase day by day and it is happening in every country. Epidemics and malignant diseases are on the increase. Mudslides in Flores, Indonesia, earthquakes in Japan and Sumatra, and floods in Malaysia, India and China, are taking the lives of countless people, injuring many and making thousands suddenly homeless.

People are walking in the darkness of sin and shame. Many are living in the shadow of sickness and death. Things have been the same ever since the dawn of man. But thank God, Jesus Christ, His Son, came into the human scene two thousand years ago. It is the one central, undeniable fact of history! Of that the Bible declared, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned”.

I received an e-mail from a dear reader I do not know. Here is an excerpt: “Thank you for your emails with instruction and encouragement. I am an American living in Florida, married with five grown children. I take care of my wife’s parents in our home and they have many health conditions which require long hours of attending to them”.

Jesus came and died on the cross of Calvary for our sin and sickness. He rose again on the third day and ascended into heaven and lives forever as our mediator. Jesus gave you and I His light to carry and His life to share with our sin-stricken, dark and dying world. You could project His light and purity among others. Look out for the opportunities that God gives you each day!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, let me be like You. Make me do something for others each day to dispel their darkness, remove their distress, and bring life and joy. Amen.