Tag: Light

Morning Musing: 27:20-21

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“You are to command the Israelites to bring you pure oil from crushed olives for the light, in order to keep the lamp burning regularly. In the tent of meeting outside the curtain that is in front of the testimony, Aaron and his sons are to tend the lamp from evening until morning before the Lord. This is to be a permanent statute for the Israelites throughout their generations.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Candles have long played an important role in religious ceremonies and non-religious ones alike. The symbolism of light is easy and obvious to make. With nearly all of the main structures of the tabernacle now described and laid out for Moses to share with the Israelites, God turns His attention to some of the finer details. He starts with what will be the main source of light for the tabernacle. Let’s talk about oil, light, and seeing what’s really there.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 25:31, 36, 39-40

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“You are to make a lampstand out of pure, hammered gold. It is to be made of one piece; it’s base and shaft, its ornamental cups, and its buds and petals. . .Their buds and branches are to be of one piece. All of it is to be a single hammered piece of pure gold. . .The lampstand with all these utensils is to be made from seventy-five pounds of pure gold. Be careful to make them according to the pattern you have been shown on the mountain.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Light is necessary for life. Okay, I know that’s not strictly true. There are certain plants and animals that have evolved and adapted to thrive in the dark. But for human life, light is a must. We were made to live in the light both literally and metaphorically. Speaking of the metaphorical sense of light, it has been possessed of a rich spiritual meaning in nearly every human religion. The religion God was directing the Israelites to build around their worship of Him was no exception. Let’s talk about the lampstand God told the people to build.

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Morning Musing: 1 John 1:5-7

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“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely not darkness in him. If we say, ‘We have fellowship with him,’ and yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth. If we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Light is pretty powerful stuff. The list of things it can do runs far longer than a single blog post could handle. It is necessary for life. Without light there is no life. There would be no beauty. Everything would be dark. There’s a reason light was the first thing God spoke into existence. Light is also a revealer of what’s true. Our youngest dressed up like a detective for school yesterday. To complete the ensemble, he made sure to bring his trusty invisible ink pen along with him. When you write with the pen you can’t see any evidence that you’ve made a mark until you use your trusty UV light pen to reveal what’s really there. What’s true on paper physically, is also true in our lives more metaphorically. Just because it is a metaphor, though, doesn’t make it any less real. Let’s talk today about God’s light and seeing what’s really there.

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Morning Musing: John 1:4-5

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“In him was life, and that life was the light of men. That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

We live in a world of darkness. There is darkness that is literal. Some people are still without power. When the deep freeze and high winds hit this area just before Christmas, lots of folks around here were without power through the holiday weekend. But for some, a lack of power is a daily reality. Their quality of life isn’t all that far removed from where people lived many generations ago. We may occasionally get nostalgic for that time when watching a show or movie about it, but we would not have really wanted to live back then. There is even more darkness, though, that is spiritual. And although that spiritual darkness is diminishing in some places, it seems to be rapidly advancing in others. What we need in this, or any darkness is light. Let’s talk this morning about where we can find it.

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Morning Musing: Matthew 5:14-16

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“You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the strangest amusement park rides I’ve ever been on was at Fuji-Q Highland in Japan. The park at the base of the famous Mount Fuji is home to what was once the tallest, fastest roller coaster in the world, Fujiyama (which I rode, but that’s another story). For this ride…attraction, really…you sit down in a room that looks like an old, run-down barn, in a high-backed chair up against a wall with a little ledge in front of you. On the ledge is a pair of headphones. When the experience begins, you put on the headphones and the room goes completely pitch black. From there, a sound track plays and the floor vibrates with what sounds like a person being horribly beaten by a torturer of some kind. At the end of the recording, a sinister voice says, “You’re next,” in Japanese (my host family translated for me afterwards). Now, if you take the headphones off, all you hear is a roomful of actual screaming people, unnerved by the sounds, the vibrations, and the lack of light. And really, that’s the key to the ride: the darkness. Light is a powerful thing. It is far more powerful than we normally imagine it to be. And in a world awash in darkness, it is something Jesus’ followers have been called to be. Let’s talk about it.

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