Life in Color
“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:” 1 Peter 2:9
When I was hurrying one morning to get dressed excited to get started with the numerous responsibilities I had to look forward to that day, having already spent several hours getting the 15 mostly special needs and senior rescued dogs ready for a new day, I grabbed quickly at random clothes in my usual thrift shop, hand-me-down medley styled way of dressing. Only a few minutes later did I consider the grape purple “I Follow Jesus” shirt I had put on, a leftover of several years back when I had designed and made available Walk by Faith Ministry t-shirts. But it wasn’t just the grape purple t-shirt I thought about. It was also the extremely bright in-your-face $1.50 or so sweatshirt I had decided to wear instead of a somber dark green-gray sweatshirt.
Then I walked into the special needs dog room where I set up my laptop each day to keep the dogs company. I couldn’t help but consider despite the floors I had just stripped bare right down to the cement because the dogs had ruined the floor and I wasn’t sure how to proceed with new flooring, that the room was cheery and bright due to the sunlight coming through the windows now that after 5.5 years I had finally decided to open the blinds. The bright colors of my clothes, and the light of the sun, it all reminded me that my life is now in light and in color. For God delivered me through faith in Jesus Christ out of decades of the darkness of brokenness from my own sin and the harm caused by others’ sin into the indescribably bright and forever light of Christ.
And through a life now utterly devoted to the Lord and His ways, I find that even on days I struggle with the trials of this life and with falling back into sin as God teaches me His ways, that more and more I feel and experience and desire for others to see the magnificent light of the Lord Jesus Christ. Many years ago, I dressed constantly in black. Even when I wore colorful clothing, my heart was pitch black. Now, when I fall into darkness because I have failed to walk in the ways of the Lord, the Spirit of God quickly convicts me, leads me to repentance, I am forgiven once again because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ, and I continue walking forward in the light of the Lord whose love, Spirit, and Word light my pathway (Psalm 119:105) ahead as He leads me daily through faith in Christ and a life dedicated to God to eternity. The world teaches there is light at the end of the tunnel. The Truth is the only true and eternal light is in the Lord Jesus Christ and in living in love and obedience to God.
Are you living in the light?