Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

John 8:12, NKJV

When I was a little boy, my family visited Carlsbad Caverns. The Caverns are essentially a giant series of caves that run deep underground. We had a guide with a powerful lantern to lead us down into the cave, and it was a good thing too, because without their light we would have either fallen into one of the pits that dropped for hundreds of feet, or we would have stumbled around in the darkness, hopelessly lost.

I remember when the guide turned out the light. We stood still in a darkness so deep that you could almost feel it. It was scary for a small child to experience such darkness and I was relieved when they turned the light back on. It has been over half of a century since I first went to Carlsbad, but I can remember to this day the helpless feeling of being in total darkness when the lights went out.

When you think about it, there are great similarities to the guide with the light and Jesus, for as Jesus himself revealed, He is the light of the world. While there is great darkness within this evil world (We have all experienced that reality of late), isn't it comforting to know that Christians have a Guide whose light can help us see every danger and every pitfall. This blessing is made all the more clear when we observe so many of our fellow men stumbling around in the dark for no other reason than they have refused to follow the Light.

That's where we come in, isn't it? For while Jesus is the Light of the world, His followers are to let that light shine so that others may see it that they might glorify God and come to Jesus.

“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:14-16, NKJV

It's true that so many stumble around in this dark world because of their own decisions, but maybe part of our problems of late have been that we ourselves have forgotten to shine our light in order that men may see and glorify God. I know that we are often shy about letting our light shine because we don't know how that light will be received, but that is not our worry - we are to simply let that light shine. If we will, we might be surprised to see how grateful men are when they come into the light and see how wonderful it is to walk with God and Christ, having escaped the darkness in which they once wandered.