“If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant, as though a floodlight were filling you with light.””
Luke 11:36
It seemed clean enough.
By that, I mean I hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary.
But now, with the light coming in at that angle, I could see there were – issues.
That dust, though.
Where moments before there hadn’t been any, now the fuzzy layer was unmistakable. The whole dash was covered in it.
How had I missed it? Because it had obviously been there. I just hadn’t been able to see it.
Ah, the camouflage of ignorance.
And the steering wheel!
The greasy fingerprints were painfully obvious. Shiny. A much darker shade than the rest of the material which wrapped it snug.
The whole thing made me want to grab a rag and start scrubbing. What hadn’t bothered me – in fact, hadn’t even been on my radar at all in the gloom of the garage – was now a glaring problem.
Funny what shedding light on a situation can do.
Jesus gives us a fascinating insight into the dust and grease of ordinary life in this passage from the book of Luke. See, He understands dark corners.
His entire ministry was spent illuminating the dust and grime of the darkness of sinful habits and patterns. And some, seeing the mess unfold before them, had the right response.
They were appalled. They wanted to grab a rag and start scrubbing.
But others, incensed by the suddenly glaring grease spots, wanted to drive back into the garage where the light was poor and they wouldn’t be confronted by the mess they needed to do something about.
Sometimes, to be honest, so do I.
It’s hard work to confront our own weaknesses. It takes courage to own our failures and mess. It requires dedication – a willingness and desire to change.
It’s much easier to stay in the dark and pretend things are fine.
Dust? What dust?
But oh, friend.
Imagine what being filled with light would be like. An illuminated life.
No dark corners.
No dust.
No greasy fingerprints.
Just sparkling, fresh scented, nothing-hidden-all-vibrant-squeaky-clean glory.
If that is the result of allowing more Jesus in my life, and my willingness to remain diligent, rag in hand to clean up spills as they happen, then bring it.
Move closer to the Light with me?
Father, how we need Your light. Teach us to keep short accounts with You, to remain open to Your illumination, to steadily and deliberately deal with our sinful patterns of behaviour so that our entire beings would be flooded with light, with no dark corners. Amen.
Growing in Grace 