When I was a child, our basement had a section that I rarely entered. I don’t think it had a light. If it did, I’m certain I would have turned it on. It was dark and damp. The only reason to go in there was potatoes were stored there. So, it’s dark, it’s damp, and the potatoes have every opportunity to start growing sprouts. It’s dark, it’s damp, and I’m sticking my hand into a basket with creepy tentacles growing off the potatoes. I really dreaded that room. I couldn’t wait to get what I needed and scamper up the steps (likely panting a bit.) The light at the top of the stairs was a welcome sight!

This side of heaven, life can be like that corner of our basement. It can feel like the darkness is all around us. I think of so many people who are without the comfort and peace that comes from knowing about Jesus, their Savior. As they struggle with life, they have need for God’s grace and may not know it. They work to find peace and happiness only to come up short time after time. Or they think that life can’t get any better than its current allotment of joys and sorrows. For some, they hear the message of God’s grace and it’s as if a light comes on. They have a totally new perspective on life knowing how dearly they are loved by Jesus, their Savior.

For believers, difficult things seem to come from all directions as well. Sometimes the struggles are with relationships and the impact of Satan’s cunning. We hear about challenges in our cities, in our country, all over the world. Peace, craved by all, can seem unattainable. The worst of the darkness is our constant, relentless battle against sin. It’s part of every day. The impact of sin and the guilt that we carry can be overwhelming. The world can feel like someone shut off the lights and we’re stuck in the basement.

Jesus. There he is. He is our Light. A Light so much better than the light at the top of my childhood stairs. He’s the Light that is never turned off. He is the Light that brings us, through faith, out of the darkness of sin. As that Light, he shows us the grace he has won for us. We have the Light but notice what the passage says, “Now you are light in the Lord.” Because of all that God has done for us, we reflect his Light, his grace, his love for others. God doesn’t say, “Now go try hard to be the light.” He says, “You are light.” As God’s dearly loved children, we are lights to others since Jesus’ light shines through us.

Jesus is your Light. He has done everything needed to remove your sin and be the Light to show us the way to heaven. Today, as you go about your daily tasks, you can reflect that Light out of gratitude for all that Jesus has done. Your joy, your loving care for others, your forgiving heart all reflect Jesus, the Light of the world to those around us. “This little light of mine—I’m gonna let it shine!”