LIGHT

I heard something on the radio the other day. It was on NPR.org. It made me think about light differently, especially the words light and lamp that are spread throughout the Bible.
Here is a clip from the program that I'm talking about:
"We forget just how painfully dim the world was before electricity. A candle, a good candle, provides barely a hundredth of the illumination of a single 100 watt lightbulb. Open your refrigerator door, and you summon forth more light than the total amount enjoyed by most households in the 18th century. The world at night, for much of history, was a very dark place indeed. "
This is from a book called At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson in the chapter called "Fuse Box". Mr. Bryson quotes from a diary of a guest at a dinner party where there were 7 (only 7) candles (candles, not candleabras) lighting the room, stating that "it was a blaze of light".
Think of that. Look at the night sky and marvel at the moon and the stars. This idea of a very dark world makes me appreciate any light more. I still can't understand the depth of the darkness. There is plenty of light around to prevent that but this description makes me appreciate the light a little more.
Now think of Jesus being the Light of the World. No wonder they used phrases about light and illumination so often. It was so dark that light was a real need. They had to do a lot in the dark, or what we'd consider dark. How many hours a day is it daylight half of the year? I don't like fall going into winter because it gets dark so early!

Light of the world
Lamp unto my feet
People do not light a lamp and hide it under a bowl - they put it on a stand for everyone to see

There are numerous references to light and lamp and darkness. They were starved for light.
Aren't we now? Aren't we starved for illumination - we want to see. We want to understand. We want the path laid out in front of us and dangers exposed. We want to find the food in the fridge and we want to find God. The bulb in the fridge helps with one. Jesus takes care of the other. Illuminating our path, exposing the dangers, lighting the way forward.

Thank You Jesus for bringing us out of the darkness and into the warm light of Your majesty and love. Amen.

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