What it means to "live in the light"

When I started this blog, I wanted to come up with a title that would be timeless: something I wouldn't have to change, something that would always apply to me and my life and would cover everything I write about.

I mainly write about life, and I am a Christian, a believer in Jesus Christ.  Those two things shaped my blog title.

Matthew 5:14 and 16 says, "You are the light of the world...Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and praise your Father in heaven."  This is Jesus speaking to his followers, encouraging them to let their "light" shine.

Jesus also describes himself as a light.  In John 8:12, he says, "I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

At the beginning of his Gospel, John writes about Jesus, saying, "Through him (Jesus) all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  In him was life, and that life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it."  (John 1:3-5)

This world is dark with sin.  Satan does his best to hide the light of Jesus: light that makes visible all the evil in the world, light that shines the way to Jesus, light that gives life.  When Jesus was born into this world, he brought light.  He brought life.  Through our baptisms, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are able to shine his light also, like candles in a dark room.  We don't produce that light, but just as the moon reflects the light of the sun, so we reflect the light of the Son, Jesus.

That's what this blog is about: my life, living in the light of Christ.  I want his light to show me the way to live, and I want to reflect his light to the world around me.

It's only the light of Jesus that gives life.