When I was 5 years old, I lived in a railroad style apartment in Brooklyn.  My bedroom was in the back of the apartment and I had to walk through two rooms to get to my bedroom.  When it was dark, all kinds of creatures would show up – roaches, mice and an occasional rat.  I hated walking through the dark!  And besides that, there was a back door to the apartment in my room. The door was partially glass so I could see shadows of and hear anyone walking through the halls.  Of course my childish imagination took over saying someone was going to break in, or worse than that, it could be the ‘boogie man’ in the hallway!

When I went into my bedroom, I would turn on the lights in the front rooms to see as I walked to my room.  I was petrified of the dark, and what may have been in the there!  One day my mother told me to walk to my room without turning the lights on. When she said that, fear came upon me and I was paralyzed!  Then she started yelling and chasing me through the rooms, forcing me to run through the dark and into my room!  I didn’t like that at all, but it did help me to overcome some of my fears.

As I grew older, I learned to appreciate and grew to love the dark.  I did not like daylight savings time, there seemed to be too much daylight!  I did not want anything to do with what was right (the light), I only liked the deeds done in darkness.  Of course the absence of light had nothing to do with the time, but it was a condition of my heart.  I lived in darkness, loved the darkness, and ran to the darkness.  I avoided anything that had to do with light, even if it looked like the light was the right way to go.  I would quickly dismiss the idea and run back to the darkness.  Darkness became a close friend and I was no longer afraid of the dark.  I had now come to embrace its life and ways.

Matthew 4:14-16 says; “…The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great Light, and those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death, upon them a Light dawned.”  When the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ shown in my heart, I was translated out of the darkness and into the Light.  Although I no longer run to the darkness, I am also no longer afraid of it.  Darkness and the deeds of darkness no longer have any hold or power over me.  Jesus has set me free!

Romans 13:12 tells us to “…Lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.”  Jesus is the Light and delivers from darkness and now we put on the Light and it keeps us protected from darkness.  It is so good to be free from all manner of darkness!

– Pastor Bob