Daily Devotionals

Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life

Devotional: October 3rd

We have a new addition in our neighborhood. That sounds a little vague considering that our neighborhood is one of those under development. A new addition is almost always going to be taken for granted until the neighborhood is completely built. Such is life in suburbia. The new addition is not another street full of houses. It is something that, when we first found out about its coming and the exact location, several people said, "Oh great, now we'll have it shining in our front windows."

"It" is a new streetlight. It now stands on a little island of dried out crabgrass and quackgrass and Johnson grass and clover that forms the area where our mail box and that of the next door neighbor stand. The light is perfect. It is bright enough to illuminate the cul-de-sac adequately and yet not so bright that it causes problems. In fact, the light is so unobtrusive that both my daughter and daughter-in-law failed to notice its presence when they left the house this past evening.

That streetlight serves a specific purpose and does it well. It is set with a photoelectric eye so that it turns on at dusk and off at dawn. It illuminates but doesn't blind. The darkness in our little corner of the world that used to be periodically pierced by the side lanterns of the garages here is now held off by our new streetlight. With the kids that we have playing in the area, even after dark, it makes it easier to see them; and hopefully easier to miss them when backing out after nightfall.

Such is the function of light. It is intended to hold off the darkness in some instances while in others it is meant to penetrate the darkness and show direction as in car headlights or a lighthouse. In the case of a reading lamp it is to make the words on a piece of paper plain to see while in another case it is to make an entire sporting event appear as plain as day and allow those who participate to do so without fear of surprises. In life it is much more; and it should be.

"In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world." John 1:4-9 The light of Jesus illuminates the soul and brings it out of the darkness of Satan's lies into the light of God's understanding for man.