The Beam of Light

The Parable:

The cavern was so dark you could practically feel it.  Not a shadow could be seen through the blackness, but Faith could see a beam of light filtering down far in front of her.  It appeared to be breaking through a hole or crack in the top of the cave.  She began to feel her way along the wall toward the light.  It grew brighter and brighter, as the sun was clearly directly overhead.  As she entered the light, its warm rays flowed over her like a waterfall.  She covered her eyes with her hand, for the light was overwhelming in contrast to the darkness in which she had been engulfed.  She began climbing the wall for a way through the hole.  The sunlight seemed to pull her upward.  Once she had reached the top and poked her head through the hole, it was like entering heaven.  Oh the contrast!  From darkness everywhere, with a beam of light offering a way out--to light everywhere and no darkness!  It was clear from the beauty of nature around her that the light meant life.  Not a thing grew in that cavern.  It was cold, hard, rocky, and dead—except where the light met its floor through the hole; there, it was alive!

The Discussion:

John 12:46: “I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.”

John 8:12: “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’”

Jesus is as the beam of light, and the dark, sin-filled world is like the cavern.  If we depart from Jesus, we plunge ourselves into a blackness of blindness and death.  We are cast into “outer darkness” as Jesus described it (Matthew 25:30).  The further from the light we venture, the blacker our way becomes.  The light pierces through Jesus Christ, the only gateway into heaven.  He is like a window that breaks into the cavern of darkness our sin has created.  Our only way into the glorious light of God and His holiness and beauty is through the window of Jesus.  The light is a narrow shaft with one entrance.  We cannot presume to find our own ways into the Kingdom of Light.  We must pursue the one place where it enters our darkness.  We must seek the Lord while He may be found, even while it is still day.  When the sun sets, the light stops shining through.  We must reach the window of heaven before the setting of grace!  Jesus said, “We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:4-5).