Walk in the Light
- Brittany Ulman
- Apr 4
- 5 min read
Somewhere along the way, the idea came about that you need to “clean yourself up” before you go to Jesus. Friend, if you have believed or currently believe this, stop. Seriously. Throw it out the window. Burn it. Run it over with a cattle truck. Whatever you do, make sure you destroy it because it is a lie! Nowhere in the Bible does it ever say anything of the sort. In fact, it says the complete opposite. Religion says work for it, earn it. Jesus says, “Come.”
“‘For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life’” (John 3:16).
“‘Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest’” (Matthew 11:28).
“But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
“We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
The apostle John gives us a beautiful picture of this truth in his profession of Jesus as the Light: “In Him (Jesus) was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:4-5).
“This is the message we have heard from Him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).
Imagine a dark room. Absolutely no light at all. This is the darkness within you. Your fears, your mistakes, your anxieties, your disappointments, your anger, your jealousy, the list goes on.
You’re tired of the darkness. You just want it gone. You’ve tried the world’s suggestions. Money, sex, drugs, alcohol, food, fame, success. Yet, none of it lasted. Literally, the high was nice for a time and maybe for a moment you thought the pain was behind you, but soon it came back and this time with friends.
Now imagine someone walks into the dark room holding a light. Every inch of darkness around Him flees the moment His foot touches the floor. You did nothing to cast out the darkness, the light did it for you. The light changed the environment.
Jesus is not just the One with the light, He is the Light. And it’s His presence in your life that casts out the darkness within you.
John phrases it another way when he says, “But if we walk in the light, as He (God the Father) is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).
Jesus is not just the One with the light, He is the Light. And it's His presence in your life that casts out the darkness within you.
Sin is darkness. It eats at your soul and consumes your life. It may bring fleeting happiness, but it’s at the cost of eternal bondage and death (see Rom. 6:6, 23). Trust me, I’ve tried it and can attest to its depraved emptiness with tentacles that only tighten their grip around you, hoping to drain every last ounce of life from you.
We alone cannot rid ourselves of the darkness (see Ephesians 2:8-9). We must step into the Light, and He will send the darkness running. His light is the ultimate enemy repellent.
As you sit in your dark room overwhelmed by the darkness, you are hopeless. Incapable of manufacturing any light. Yet the moment you recognize your lack and His supply, you take a step toward the Light.
With this new perspective—renewed vision—you see the true contents of your darkness. The lies you believed. The false comforts you embraced. The countless ways you gave into what you thought would make you happy, regardless of how it affected others.
You see it all, and you want nothing to do with it. You want it gone. No more to be tethered to your soul or entangled with your identity. You long to forsake it all. Leave it all behind in the darkness and walk toward the Light.
This is the beautiful process of repentance and rebirth, my dear friend. The abandonment of your old self, the one who relished in the darkness, and the taking up of the new self, the one who rejoices in the Light (see Eph. 4:22-24).
When this occurs, when you realize your darkness and openly confess it to the Light, “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
The Light dawns in your darkness, exposing its evil and shows you the path to a better way: abundant life in Christ Jesus (see John 10:10). A way you always knew existed but refused to pursue because of one lie or another. The enemy of our souls has an arsenal of lies to keep you from the truth of the Light.
God doesn’t exist. He doesn’t care. He’s withholding good from you. He demands impossible standards. Jesus was a good teacher but not God. You’ll never be happy with Him. Sin isn’t that big of a deal. As long as you’re a “nice person,” you’ll be okay. Hell doesn’t exist. Judgment isn’t coming. Everyone goes to Heaven. You’ll get another chance. Maybe tomorrow. It’s only for the weak. All religions lead to eternal life. The lies go on.
When you believe one or more of these lies, you not only willingly embrace the darkness, you walk deeper into it. That dark room becomes a tunnel. One side descends into deeper darkness, the path for all those who choose the darkness over the Light. All those who say they have no darkness within them.
Jesus cannot be overcome. He is Almighty God, the Creator and Sustainer of all things.
With every step away from the Light, you relinquish yourself to the darkness until it blinds you completely (see Matt. 10:33, 1 John 2:11). You are in so deep and have been for so long, you have gone blind. Darkness upon darkness.
Step toward the Light before you’re overwhelmed. Do not be defeated by the darkness but allow the Light to overcome it. God is calling “you out of darkness and into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 1:9).
Nothing is too dark for Him. The moment light enters a space, darkness must flee. Darkness will never snuff out light. Jesus cannot be overcome. He is Almighty God, the Creator and Sustainer of all things. As the Good Shepherd, He is calling you by name, and His voice will bestow light upon you, His once wayward sheep. His beautiful son or daughter.
All of us are made with built-in reflectors, but not all will accept this role. Only those who step into the Light will have their reflectors activated, forever to reflect His Light. All others will remain entrenched in the darkness; their eyes eventually go blind and their hearts become riddled with cancerous darkness. Their reflectors dormant.
“God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.”
Walk in the light as He is in the light. Confess your sins, allow His love to cleanse you from them all. Allow the Light to banish your darkness.
Your first step? Toward Him.
“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’” (John 8:12).
References:
English Standard Version Bible. (2001). Crossway Bibles.
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