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In The Light

“Lewis and Clark Caverns” is a huge limestone cave just outside of Bozeman, Montana. When we were there recently, a tour guide told us this story.

When the cave was being developed for tourists, the government sent the “Civilian Conservation Corps” (CCC) to do the work. The CCC did not pay very well, so one young man came up with a plan to supplement his income.

One Friday night, instead of leaving with his co-workers, this young man stayed in the cave. He planned to come out of his hiding place, collect some limestone, take it to town and sell it to the tourists.

The only problem was that his candle, his only source of light, did not last as long as he had hoped. When it went out, he found himself in such darkness that he could not find his way out. In fact, he could not move at all.

When his co-workers returned on Monday morning, they found the man still in the cave. Three days of being in total darkness had taken a toll on him. He was so disoriented that he thought he was standing up when he was actually lying down. As well, his eyes had become so used to the dark that when they brought him out into the light, he could not see anything. In fact, it took three days for his sight to return to normal.

Being in total darkness was not just uncomfortable or unfortunate: it was harmful.

Interestingly, when the Bible talks about a life without God, it often refers to it as “darkness” and it can be equally harmful to us.

Fortunately, we have a choice.

“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by 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, his Son, purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:5-7).

God’s simple message is, “Come out of the darkness and live in the light!”

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