LightoftheWord | Kristi's Morning Devotional

For most of my life I have lived in the Southwest.

I was born in southern Arizona and as a child we moved around the state while my father worked on road construction projects. We spent one year in northern New Mexico, but Arizona was home.

What I knew of my home state is it was hot about eight months of the year, and the sun was always shining. It was great!

After Dave and I were married we spent a period of time in the Pacific northwest – Washington and Idaho. Those first few years were an adjustment for sure, gray snowy winters and gray rainy summers. I missed the sunshine.

These were the memories that were triggered as I read from Luke, chapter 1, this morning. Zechariah, the father of John, spoke these words over his son on the day of his naming. He later became known as John the Baptizer. His father knew his son had a special calling to fulfill.

“You, my son, will be called the prophet of God Most High. You will go ahead of the Lord
to get everything ready for him. ⁷⁷You will tell his people that they can be saved when their sins are forgiven. ⁷⁸God’s love and kindness will shine upon us like the sun that rises in the sky.⁷⁹On us who live in the dark shadow of death this light will shine to guide us into a life of peace.” Luke 1:76-79 CEV

This light, the Son filled with love and kindness, will shine on us and guide us into a life of peace!

” Once again Jesus spoke to the people. This time he said, ‘I am the light for the world! Follow me, and you won’t be walking in the dark. You will have the light that gives life.’” John 8:12 CEV

There’s no danger of being sun-burned by this “Son-light”. The longer we spend in the Son, the more we become like Him and can share His light to those in our world.

Come live in the “Son-shine”.

One of our fellow campground staff brought me these mushrooms yesterday. They are really big and he said they are best when sliced and sauted in butter.

Yum!

I don’t know much about mushrooms but I do know they grow best in moist places without much light. Not an ideal situation for human growth but I guess it’s ok for fungus.

Do you remember years back when scientist and medical professionals started talking about light deprivation and lack of vitamin D? This produced a condition known as SAD, Seasonal Affective Disorder. One of the main symptoms was depression.

I love the sunshine. Most of my life has been in the desert with plenty of sunshine. Even though our winter days in Montana were bitterly cold we still had lots of sunshine.

If we aren’t careful we can experience SAD in our spiritual lives. The Lord doesn’t want us living in the dark. In fact, one Old Testament prophet proclaimed that “My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge”. They were living in spiritual darkness. They had forgotten, or had not been taught, all that the Lord told Moses about God’s blessings being poured out on each generation of the Jewish people.

John, the beloved disciple of Jesus, instructed us to “walk in the light as He was in the light”. Jesus said of himself that He came to be the Light of the World. When we walk in the light of God’s word we grow. We develop strength, joy, goodness, peace and love. That’s the fruit that God’s light produces in us. These traits are completely opposite of SAD.

When we are walking in the SONshine our lives reflect His light. Jesus said that we are to be lights in the world. Just like the moon reflects the light of the sun and shines when the sun is absent, we can and will reflect the light of God’s Son and shine in the world when the Son isn’t in the earth.

“People don’t hide a lamp under a bowl. They put it on a lampstand. Then the light shines for everyone in the house. ¹⁶In the same way, you should be a light for other people. Live so that they will see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:15-16 ERV

May I encourage you today to open God’s word and let the Son shine on you. Don’t be a mushroom!

Tag: LightoftheWord

Live in the “Son-shine”

In The Dark