Refelctions In The Sunset

 

O

ne Friday evening, I attended an outdoor concert in the small community of Aledo, Texas, just twenty minutes west of Fort Worth.  It was a beautiful evening for a concert and several people from the area took advantage of good music, good fellowship, an open coffee shop (a Texas necessity), and a nice cool breeze.  People brought their lawn chairs or sat at the tables provided by the coffee shop and waited for the concert to begin. 

 

As the music began, I sat back in my chair and watched as the sun crept slowly and steadily toward its bed in the west.  The sky became a giant fireball as the sun made its exit from the day’s stage.  Shades of orange, yellow, and red all blended together and turned the sky into one large canvas onto which God painted one of His wonderful masterpieces.  As I continued to marvel at this sight something in the sky caught my eye.  A single jet airliner was banking to the west in its final approach to DFW airport.  The bright hues of the sunset reflected off its burnished steel skin causing a momentary flash of light. 

 

Watching that airplane in the sky taught me an invaluable lesson.  In order for that plane to reflect the sun’s rays, it had to be directly in the sun’s path.  Moreover, the angle of its approach had to be right on target for the light to reflect in such a way as to catch my attention.  One minute earlier or later, one degree off of its course, one foot higher or lower in altitude and the plane would have flown by unnoticed; its passing would have been uneventful. 

 

But because it was at the right angle, because it was at the right altitude, and because it occupied the right place in the sky at that exact moment in time, I was able to see the sun’s rays bounce off the plane and I was able to sit and think about something I otherwise might never have stopped to consider. 

 

The Apostle John used the concept of light as his primary way of talking about Jesus.  It is in John’s gospel that the Jesus says he is the light of the world.  It is also in John’s gospel that we are told that men love darkness more than light because the darkness hides their sin.  But there is a passage from John’s first epistle which beautifully applies to that airplane flying at sunset on Friday evening. 

 

1 John 1:7 says, “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”  Read that verse again very carefully and notice the condition that John sets forth in this passage.  John says we are to walk in the light.  What light is he speaking of?  John is talking about the light of God that was manifested through His son, Jesus Christ.  When we come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, we are able to walk in God’s light.  But there is one more little detail John puts in that we must take notice of. 

 

John says we must walk in the light as He is in the light.  Now that begs the question, “How is Jesus in the light?”  The answer is constantly.  As long as we remain in Jesus and maintain our daily relationship with God, we are constantly in the light of His love and grace.  Moreover, we reflect that light and share it with those around us.  But in order to reflect the light, we must be in the light, just like the airplane in the sunset that Friday evening.  I saw the sun reflected from that plane because it was in the light.  I could never have witnessed that reflection had the plane been flying at night because darkness reflects nothing! 

 

How is your walk with the Lord today?  Are you living your life in such a way that you are reflecting the light of His love, grace, and salvation?  Are you in the right position to attract the attention of others and cause them to notice God’s light?  Are all the areas of your life filled with the wonderful light of God’s presence, dispelling all shadows life throws your way?  Are you basking in God’s light today?  Are you on course and flying a path that constantly holds you steady in the middle of God’s light?