The Maquarium

1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from Him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice truth. 7 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 cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us


Since about age three, my oldest son, Cal, has been afraid of the dark. To calm those fears my wife, Evie, purchased an "aquarium" night light. It is a pretty cool gadget, with a fluorescent lit background,that shows fish as they "swim" around the light. Of course, it is just a clear sheet of plastic being pulled around to create the appearance of moving fish, but I have to admit it does a fine job. Cal named it the "maquarium" at age three, and it has been a required element for him to fall asleep for the last five years. The light and distraction of the fish help Cal to overcome His fear of all the things that the darkness represents. We all have come to love the maqaurium, as Cal gets a light to overcome His fear of darkness and we get to sleep.

Throughout redemptive history, God has used light to describe His Holiness. He also uses darkness to define Evil. You do not have to have a seminary degree to sense that light is good and darkness is bad. Sayings like "nothing good happens after midnight" prove out to be quite true. Even when I think through the majority of my sin, it happened in physical darkness. Why? We think the darkness will hide our sins from God and others. Darkness may temporarily hide your sin from others, but it will not hide it from God or yourself. Darkness demands that more darkness is needed to keep the "little dark secrets" hid. That, my friends, is the much worn path to death, the broad road that Jesus says leads to destruction (Matt 7:13-14).

In the passage from first John above, 4 fundamental principles are stated:

1)God is Light (v.5)
2)If we claim to be a Christ follower (light bearer), our lives will be defined by Holiness not sin. Even though we will sin, the Holy Spirit moves us to repent and reject that sin and darkness so that a brighter light may shine in our souls. If we claim to follow Jesus, and are comfortable sinning we are flat out liars (v.6)
3) Jesus blood is the only enabler to walking in the light (v.7)
4) We are all sinners, in need of the Light of the World, Jesus (v.8)

I have a love for questions. Answering tough questions is a great way to discover deep truths as we examine ourselves. Here are a few that come to mind:

As God looks in to your soul right now, does He see light and a thirst for more light?
Do you hate sin and darkness? (yes I mean HATE it)
Are you able to see a clear spiritual path towards God, because he has enlightened the eyes of your soul? Does the bible make clearer sense to you that it once did?
Do you have a desire to share light with others?

At the core of our soles, we each know if we crave light or are satisfied in darkness. It really is that simple, light or dark, it is one or the other. I pray desperately that all four of my kids, my wife, and Myself would love and be drawn into the light (God) and Hate darkness (sin).

Like the soothing light that the Maquarium provides Cal, it is only when we allow Jesus to light up our souls, that we are able to have peace.

So let this be your song today:

This little light of mine,
I am going to let it shine,
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.