When Jesus came into this world He was the Light of this world. Let's take another look at the shepherds' story in Luke 2:9. More specifically "the glory of the Lord shone all around them." There they were out in the field with the sheep at night, maybe a small fire going. It was dark with only the moon and stars as their light. Checking out everything that moved in the shadows to make sure the sheep were safe. When suddenly there shone a light so bright that was all around them. There were no shadows, everything was lit up. This is the light of God, everything is exposed in it. There are no places to hide because there is no darkness or shadows.
Jesus made several claims about being the Light, let's look at a couple. “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the 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 NKJV. This verse has two meanings in that it is prophetic. Yes, Jesus is talking about Himself walking on this planet. He needed to get His work done in preparing His disciples to be able to continue in this dark world after He was gone. There is no doubt that this world has gotten darker after Jesus ascended to Heaven. Look at Nero and what he did to the first-century church.
It is hard to find joy in this dark world yet Jesus told us in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” We don't walk in darkness when we follow Him. When the first-century church was called Christians, it was a derogatory term which means "little Christ". Yet, when you think about it due to the Holy Spirit living in us, we are the Light of God still in this dark world.
How do we keep our light going? I love this quote from our children's past, Tami Buck,
Click to Tweet - "Just like you eat your food for your body, you have to read your food to feed your spirit."
The Bible is our light that feeds the light within us. “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.”
Psalms 119:105 NKJV