Night Lights

So, I was going to post some pictures and make it a Wordless Wednesday, but Blogger is not allowing me to upload my very professional Easy Share pictures. Not sure what the problem is, but I will try to do it later in the day, because I know you guys are sitting on the edge of your swivel chairs waiting to see them.

I have been thinking about something lately, but have been having a hard time making it sound right in my head before typing it on the blog. (I know some of you are wishing I would do that more often). So, instead of trying to flesh it out in my head, I think I will try to flesh it out here, so bear with me......

As most of you know, we have been working at our new house a lot lately. Sometimes we are there until very late in the night. I have noticed that when we are there all day and stay late, my eyes adjust to the light and it is easy to find my way around even in the dark. Which is no small feat, since it IS a construction site and there are several places that a person could really get hurt (a couple where you could fall to your death).

Anyway, the other night as we were getting ready for bed, my husband remembered that the electrical inspector had come that afternoon so he left one of the garage doors unlocked. I wasn't completely ready for bed, so I told him that I would go to the house and lock it. Our new house is in a neighborhood (unlike our present home) and there are street lights, so I assumed that I would be able to see what I was doing. When I got there and walked back to where the basement is, I saw that the retaining wall was blocking all the light coming from the street. I was in complete darkness.

I couldn't understand because normally, when I have been there working all day, my eyes adjust to the light (or lack thereof), but having not been there as the sun went down, I simply could not see my hand in front of my face. I don't have a flashlight in my car (I know, I should always carry a flashlight - I was a Girl Scout - I know these things, yet I don't always do what I should - speaking of Girl Scouts, anyone heard about cookie sales this year?). ANYWAY, I got out my cell phone to see if it would help shed some light and it was very little help, I was standing in the dark with no light where I needed it.

I felt my way around and after several trips and bumps finally got the door locked. On my way home, I was thinking about how that situation is exactly how sin works. When we begin in a season of sin, we start out in the light and as we continue in our sins, the light dims slowly so that our eyes adjust to what we are doing and instead of seeing complete darkness, we can still see where we are going and we make adjustments and justify our actions because we haven't yet experienced complete darkness. Does that make any sense at all?

My point here is that sin can creep up on us like dusk and then before we know it, we are in complete darkness without even realizing the danger. I am not just talking about the big 10 HUGE sins, I am also talking about sins like ignoring prayer and Bible study, allowing bitterness to have a place in your daily life, laying out of church, flirting with someone you are not married to, watching movies/shows that are not appropriate for a Christian to watch, drinking, gossip, etc, etc, etc. These are sins that can start with isolated incidents and eventually lead to complete darkness. Over time, we get used to the idea of these sins and we begin to justify them to ourselves and to others. I know we have all been there, done that.

When we are accustomed to the light, complete darkness makes it impossible for us to see anything at all. When you are coming from bright light, complete darkness is an unwelcome contrast. But, when we allow the darkness to settle in slowly, it is much easier for us to adjust to the darkness and a Christian should never adjust to the darkness because we have been called to BE light.

I daresay most all of us are flirting with darkness in some form or another today -- like holding a grudge or hanging on to guilt from past sins or ____________(you fill in the blank). satan loves for us to start small and build our way up to where we don't even recognize our sins as wrong. he loves nothing more than a dull conscience because he knows that it leads to a lacking prayer life and neglect of relationship with the Lord. When we aren't worshipping God, that leaves room for us to worship other things giving satan a foothold in our lives. We have to catch those dim, dusky sins before they lead us into complete blackness where we cannot see God's hand before our face.

Okay, that about sums up my thoughts. I hope you could understand them (jumbled as they are). Now if you would all please stand as we sing Hymn #437 "There's Power In the Blood".