A Thought For The Week Of January 6

"For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ." (2 Corinthians 4:6) For light to suddenly shine out of darkness means that something new must have appeared; otherwise the darkness would never have been dark! Paul here seems to be thinking of the first creative act of God described in the Book of Genesis, when God spoke light into being. Light can mean a lot of things, but in the Bible I think it means wisdom, or knowledge. Paul seems to be telling us that we can only know God if God first chooses to be made known to us. The good news is that God does want to be known. Jesus Christ is the perfect example of that. Jesus called himself "the light of the world" - the one who by his very being brought us knowledge of God; the one who is constantly reaching out to hearts that are dark by their very lack of knowledge of God. And it's God who does this. In spite of people who ask "have you found God?" we really don't need to find God. God has already found us and is actively reaching out to us even now, seeking to place a light in our hearts or to increase the light that's already there. As 2014 begins, my hope is that all of us will let God's light shine in us more and more powerfully, so that we will truly know God and be able to be lights ourselves, showing the love of God wherever we go. Have a great week.