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. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. (1.5-7)
It is easy to fool people. You can pretend to be someone or something you’re not – and most of the time no one will really know.
Except you, that is. Deep down you feel like a fake. And you feel that if anyone really knew you, there is no way that they would want you. So you pretend. You wear a mask. You put on a front. You hide. And sometimes you even fool yourself.
But there is no fooling God. The book of Hebrews says “no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.” There is no hiding from God. God is light and His gaze pierces through your mask into every corner of your soul. In His light, all of our ugliness, all of our sin, all of our filth is exposed. And we are ashamed.
And yet… when we come into the light we hear the most stunning news imaginable. He sees us – He sees every part of us; He knows us – He knows every part of us. And He wants us – He wants every part of us. He wants us to walk with Him in the light.
He offers us the blood of His Son to make us clean and new and beautiful – and His. But He asks us to stay in the light – not to return to the shadows of pretending, not to wear a mask that says everything’s o.k.
Life with Christ means living in the light. It means recognizing all the ways you have tried to hide from God, acknowledging just how deeply flawed you are and how much you need Him for every step you take.
What masks are you wearing that are keeping you from walking in the light?
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