Our relationship to our source is the primary concern of living, dependent entirely on our Father as revealed in the Old and New Testaments. It is in these books that the source of creation creates, witnesses the fall as a result of free will, redeems his creation and brings about a new paradise. It is this Father who is our father, where our relatedness to Him is measured by our love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
The light is this love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. This light of the world is in contrast to the rest of it, wherein emotional drives become the primary operative force, restraining the freedom and paradisal possibilities of the meek. This is where forces like intelligence become the goal, restricting simple love, or strength becomes a way of life, exterminating those who are not strong like them, or pleasure becomes the purpose, preventing the honor and deference to those who demand more of people in the name of God.
The light of the world seeks to make love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control the way of the world. This is the invitation of our Father. Because He is a good Father, he has given us the ability to do this through the sacrifice of His Son, the first among our brethren. As we raise awareness and proclaim the presence of God’s kingdom, His country here and now, we are establishing the new setting of creation. Rather than the fallen, corrupted and sinful creation, we declare the redeemed, perfected and holy creation.
It is through His word that we are enabled to do this. In Romans 8, creation is shown to be earnestly waiting for the revelation of the sons of God, that through their presence liberation and freedom is established. A new work, free from the chains of the past.
The extent I stand in God’s word is the extent that His light supports me. If I find my vision of Him restricted, then the blockages preventing me from my place with the Lord in the light must be overcome, like so much bramble preventing the Way of the Lord. Much like John the Baptist, we are each called to prepare the Way for the Lord, to make His paths straight in us and for others. This is a call to live as God has called us: redeemed, justified and holy saints. Much like Jesus, we are each called to declare to creation, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” We may also add the rest of the scripture, “The day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.”
The old prophets and saints did not only live to speak merely to their own times, but through God, they speak directly to each of us. The stories and proclamations of God, of holy men and women across centuries, of the Bible, are still alive now, for us, at this very moment. Our God is the Living God.
The Bible encompasses all of creation, from the beginning to our redemption. Today, may the Spirit of the Lord God be upon you to guide you in your place in His story.
Veracity as Virtue 