Week 3 – Walking in darkness

What does it mean to walk in darkness?  The Bible says :

1 John 1: 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 

But how do we know if we are walking in darkness? Let’s first think about what darkness is. Darkness isn’t actually a thing, it’s the absence of a thing.  And that thing is light. Darkness is simply the deprivation of light. Our scripture quotes Jesus as saying “I am the light of the world”.  So, we can accurately deduce that walking in darkness means that you are living a life without Jesus. You have not believed in and followed him.

Breaking that down further, there are three types of people who walk in darkness. 

The first are people who do not know God – those who have yet to hear the good news.  These people are walking in darkness because they have not been told about the hope that faith in Jesus Christ brings. Sadly, they do not yet know of Christ’s great love and sacrifice and the joy that awaits them.

Romans 10: 17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.

The second group of people who walk in darkness are people who have rejected God. These people have given their Heavenly Father the ol’ “thanks but no thanks”. They stubbornly insist on following their own will rather than God’s. These unbelievers have fallen prey to the false gods of this world – the god of self, money, possessions, pride, etc. This group of people are truly living like the blind. They walk in total darkness, with no light to illuminate their path. Like a steel trap, their minds are closed to the possibility of God’s love and Christ’s glory, they choose only to focus on their own wants and desires.

2 Corinthians 4:4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 

The third group of people who walk in darkness are those who profess to believe, they call themselves Christians, but deceive themselves about where their loyalty and focus really lie. Matthew 23: 25 says that these type of hypocrites “…clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.”  We like to think that the members of this group include the most egregiously hypocritical types – like adulterous mega-pastors and self-righteous Pharisees, but in truth, many “Christians” fall into this trap. 

Matthew 15:8-9 
“‘These people honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.9 They worship me in vain;
    their teachings are merely human rules.’[a]”

If you are unsure if you fall into this last category, ask God to search your heart and to reveal your intentions so that you can follow him and truly walk in his light. We all falter and nobody is perfect, but a regular evaluation of your own heart and continued, daily commitment to God is at the core of the believer’s journey. Start today by committing to the following scripture which outlines succinctly a life of walking with Jesus.

2 Corinthians 4:2 Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.