Better Than Sunshine

My husband is a night owl. Sometimes I call him a bat because he likes to sit in the evening with only one light on. He gets his second wind at 9:30 pm, and then he wants to review the budget or he asks me to proofread his emails and reports. That would be fine, except for the fact that I'm a morning person whose brain shuts down at 8:00 pm. And the lights? I turn on the brightest ones.

Have you ever stood in the sunshine, closed your eyes, and tilted your head toward the sky? Sometimes I do, and I imagine God shining down on me from Heaven. Maybe Heaven will be like that-- God shining on us with His love and warmth and with His brightness flooding our souls. "And the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light." (Revelation 21:23 NLT)

Sometimes in the Bible God appears as light or in a form of light. God spoke to Moses from a burning bush. And when Moses descended the mountain after speaking with God, Moses' face still glowed from the light. Once when Jesus took three of His disciples up a mountain, the Bible says, "As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed so that his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light." (Matthew 17:2 NLT) And let's not forget (since today is Pentecost), the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples in tongues of fire.

The light of God is not just literal, though. It's also spiritual. When we hear about living in the light, it doesn't mean we flip on all the lights in the house. It means we live in spiritual light that is given to us as God's children. We want His light and His word to show us how to live and to guide us where we should go. Psalm 119:105 says, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." (NRSV)

So it doesn't matter whether you're a night owl like my husband who enjoys dim light or a morning person like me who likes to brighten every corner. What does matter is that we want to live in God's spiritual light and follow His word. But I still think it's really awesome that the Bible tells us that God IS light. "This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all." (1 John 1:5)

And since it's such a beautiful day, I'm going outside to tilt my face toward the sky and remind myself that God's light is even better than sunshine.

Until next time,

Toni