"This is the message which we have heard
from Him and declare to you, that God is
light and in Him is no darkness at all. If
we say that we have fellowship with Him, and
walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice
the truth. But if we walk in the light as He
is in the light, we have fellowship with one
another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son
cleanses us from all sin" 1 John 1:5 -7
The story is told of the viper that wanted to get
across a river, but didn't know how to swim. Seeing
a nearby and very large turtle, the snake asked the
shelled creature to carry him to the other side. The
amphibian, being no stranger to the likes of the serpent,
refused: "You will bite me before we can cross and
I will die. It is your nature." With all the guile
and shrewdness inherent in the slithering creatures
personality, he convinced the turtle that he had been
reformed. He was no longer longing to kill turtles,
especially one who was helping him cross the river:
"After all, if I bit you in the middle of this torrent,
not only would you die, but so would I; remember,
I don't know how to swim." With great reluctance the
turtle accepted the explanation and allowed the serpent
to climb upon his back. About half way across the stream,
the viper coiled and struck the turtle in the soft part
of his outstretched neck. With his dying gasps the turtle
said, "I thought you were reformed. Why did you do that?"
The serpent lisped back to him, "You were right. I am
a viper by nature and I cannot help myself."
John tells us that Jesus is the light, Jesus said that
of Himself as well. John goes on to share his thoughts
on the nature of man. "If we say we have fellowship with
Him and yet walk in darkness, we lie . . ." And here is
the truth the turtle learned in our little parable: the
man who is dark by nature, cannot help but be dark even
though he clothes himself in the garments of a light-filled
individual. Since we are all children of darkness by nature,
is there any hope for us?
Indeed there is. This hope is in the form of the blood
of Jesus. We can have the darkness driven from us by
walking with the Master of light. The more time we spend
with Him, the more we become like Him and the application
of His blood to our sin-sick souls drives all sin from us.
Does that me we will remain sinless for the rest of our
lives? Hardly! But we have the assurance that our sins
can be washed away every day by the cleansing power of
the Blood. Eventually, our souls become whiter and whiter
and stay whiter much longer between "cleaning cycles." In
this way we are made into true children of light.
Is your light shining brightly? If it is, praise God!
If it is a bit dim, or in danger of going out, call
upon the name of Jesus, He will gladly rekindle your
flame and cause it to shine brightly in the darkness
that surrounds you. Hallelujah, Amen and Amen.
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