Today’s readings: Isaiah 62:6-12; 1 John 2:3-11; John 8:12-19
In North American winters, days are short and nights are long. The sun is farther away. Tulip bulbs on my window sill strain toward its oblique rays. I know a brighter day is coming. But when?
As if in answer, the writer of 1 John illuminates: “The darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining” (2:8).
Of course, that verse is not about winter doldrums. In it, God is simply communicating as usual, through the correspondence of physical and spiritual, using what we already know to teach the greater truth we need.
I see that way too, when I fly on cloudy days and watch through the window as the plane pierces the gray and soars into the gold above. On earth, there sometimes seems no relief from the gloom of suffering and oppression of sin, but the Light of the world is shining—the promise of God, proclaimed by God’s prophets, realized in Jesus Christ.
So what tilt of the world has darkened your days? What clouds shadow your sight? Never mind. Keep walking in the truth that the light of God’s love in Jesus is already and is always shining, and shining on you.
Prayer: Holy God, allow me today to bask in the warmth of your love and walk in the brilliance of your truth. Amen.
Today’s devotion was written by Beverly C. DeBord, Retired, former Associate Pastor of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, Springfield, OH.