Central Abbotsford

When you come to church this weekend, it will, of course, be light out. What I love about this time of year, though, is that when you leave (even if you stay to help clean up in the gym!), it will also be light out (unless the post-service visiting gets out of control!).

This weekend marks the longest days of sun all year in our part of the world. On both Saturday and Sunday, Abbotsford will receive 16 hours, 12 minutes, and 45 seconds of daylight, starting with the sun’s rise at 5:04 in the morning and concluding when it dips below the western horizon all the way at 9:17pm. 

I think that I can speak for many of us when I say this is a very pleasant time of the year as a result. Early risers can enjoy the cool of the gentler morning light, people are able to remain physically active outside well after dinner is done, and although summer-based seasonal affective disorder is a real phenomenon, on the whole, people’s moods are elevated by the longer days.

It is no surprise, then, that the Bible uses the imagery of light throughout. God’s first recorded words in Genesis are “let there be light.” The last chapter of the Bible, Revelation 22, includes the angelic revelation to John about the luminary situation in the new heavens and the new earth – “And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.”

John, in particular, was captivated by the light. His is the only gospel that records Jesus’ statement “I am the light of the world”. In his first epistle, John applies Jesus’ words to the lives of his readers and hearers, in 1 John 1:7 – “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” Walking in the light – following Him in word and in deed, is the mark of true Christian faith – of true discipleship.

Charles Spurgeon made this point very clear in a sermon from 1865, when he said “A man may think he has much light, but if it be only notional and doctrinal, and is not the light of God which enlightens his nature, and develops itself in his practical walk, he lies when he talks of being in the light, for he is in darkness altogether. I have no right to say I have light, unless I walk in it.” In other words, if our lives don’t match our words or professed beliefs, we had better earnestly and honestly reevaluate our lives!

This type of introspection can potentially be discouraging, but remember that we don’t serve a God that wants to see us fail, but a God who desires all to come to the knowledge of Him. If you find yourself being drawn to the darkness instead, know that you can cast those worries, those anxieties, even those failures upon your God, knowing that He is slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. If you seek it, He will equip and empower you for the walk.

So, this summer, as you spend more time walking in the natural light that the long days afford you, let those times serve as a reminder that there is a true Light that we are called to not just talk, not just affirm belief about, not just claim to know the right things regarding, but to walk in! 

In His name,

Eric