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Saturday, November 26, 2022

HOW DEEP THE DARKNESS

 

Saturday, November 26, 2022

 

HOW DEEP THE DARKNESS

 

John 1:1-5

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God.

3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

 

Matt 6:22-23

22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! ESV

 

          Charles Haddon Spurgeon wrote a commentary on the Book of Matthew and in it he says this about chapter 6: “The motive is the eye of the soul, and if it be clear, the whole character will be right; but if it be polluted, our whole being will become defiled. If our faith is presumption, our zeal selfishness, our prayer formality, our hope a delusion, our experience infatuation, the darkness is so great that even our Lord holds up his hands in astonishment and says — “How great is that darkness! “

 

          John wrote that the Light shone in the darkness, but the darkness was not illuminated or made aware. The world has walked so long in the darkness that it must close its eyes to the light to find its familiar way. The very motives have become darkness and the light is foreign and unwelcome.

 

          Vince Gill wrote a very moving Christmas song with lyrics that form an apt commentary on both John’s and Matthew’s verses.

 

One Bright Star

Long, long ago in a world dark and cold

The night so still, winter's chill

One bright star was shining

On a bed made of hay, in a manger he lay

The shepherds came, they knew his name

King of kings, a brand-new day

 

They saw the light in the darkness

It shines on us in tenderness

It brings out the hope that's in all of us

May it shine its light on you this Christmas night

 

Dear Lord, on this day before the beginning of Advent, we reside in darkness, but we rest in hope. Give light to those in deep darkness and fulfill the expectation of those who hope. AMEN

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