“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” – John 8:12
This verse is a reminder that we are to follow Christ. That sounds simple and straightforward, and it is. But we are all tempted in our heart to make other things the foundation of our faith.
For some it is clinging to a church and following it’s teaching, promoting the church above the Christ. In this bondage, people of other churches, even those with similar beliefs, are diminished and not considered important. Only that particular church is important and should be followed. Walking in darkness.
For some, the temptation may be to say and do the right thing. Try to appear to be ‘a man of God’ or ‘a woman of God’, by doing the external things so people will thing and say that. Some become so focused on looking right to others that they will put other above those other people above their family and / or the people who love them most. They want to follow that feeling of everyone thinking they are righteous. Walking in darkness.
For many, it’s a doctrine, a believe so strong we follow after it intensely. Maybe someone has attacked their belief and we feel it is our righteous duty to defend it. It becomes the most important thing we follow. Walking in darkness.
But following Christ is not that bondage. It’s life, it’s light. It puts in our heart a desire to please Him, a closeness to Him, a love for Christ, which causes us to love others because Christ loves them. This is not walking in darkness. This is having the light of life. This is following Christ. Indeed, the light of the world.