My husband and I rewatch television series from decades ago on dvd, mostly detective shows, on evenings when the house is too quiet. The other evening, he asked if I’d like to start a new season and to be honest, I was so tired and it was so dark outside that I almost said no. Then I looked at the clock. It was 6:20.
We’re all still reeling from the time change, especially the babies (and their mamas) and Jake, our Great Dane. The grandbabies and the dog are suffering from PDST- Post Daylight Savings Time. Their eating and sleeping schedules are aligned with the former reality and they are not easily convinced that waking at 5:30 routinely is unnecessary. Jake, who eats twice a day, wants his dinner at lunchtime. Changing the settings on the clocks did not alter their internal settings in the least.
Daylight Savings Time was conceived early in the 1900s to conserve energy by taking advantage of sunlight hours. It was apparently implemented on a large scale during the First World War and largely abandoned until the second. I’ve always preferred falling back to springing forward. A night owl by nature, my soundest sleep comes during the wee hours of the morning. Adding sleep to my mornings is much more beneficial than trying to go to bed early.
Thankfully in God’s eternal kingdom, neither time nor darkness will ever be an issue.
“This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.”
1 John 1:5 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1jn.1.5.NLT
“In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He existed in the beginning with God.
The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.”
John 1:1-2, 4-5 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.1.1-5.NLT
Jesus is synonymous with God, and is referred to by John as the eternal, living Word who gives life and light to all. Jesus referred to Himself and then to us, His followers, as the light of the world. How is this simultaneously possible? Jesus told his first followers that though they grieved His departure, it was far better that He return to the Father for only then would the Spirit be given.
“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth.
He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard.
He will tell you about the future.”
John 16:13 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.16.13.NLT
“Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world.
If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.””
John 8:12 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.8.12.NLT
“The eye is the lamp of your body.
When your eye is clear [spiritually perceptive, focused on God], your whole body also is full of light [benefiting from God’s precepts].
But when it is bad [spiritually blind], your body also is full of darkness [devoid of God’s word].
Be careful, therefore, that the light that is in you is not darkness.”
Luke 11:34-35 AMP
https://bible.com/bible/1588/luk.11.34-35.AMP
“Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.”
Psalms 119:105 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.119.105.NLT
“The eyes of your spirit allow revelation-light to enter into your being.
When your heart is open the light floods in. But when your heart is hard and closed, the light cannot penetrate and darkness takes its place.
Open your heart and consider My words.
Watch out that you do not mistake your opinions for revelation-light!
If your spirit burns with light, fully illuminated with no trace of darkness, you will be a shining lamp, reflecting rays of truth by the way you live.””
Luke 11:34-36 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/luk.11.34-36.TPT
“For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord.
So live as people of light! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.
Carefully determine what pleases the Lord.
Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them.
It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret.
But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them, for the light makes everything visible.
This is why it is said, “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.””
Ephesians 5:8-14 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/eph.5.8-13.NLT
There’s a simple litmus test for every believer. We are the church, the body of Christ in the world. We are designed to function as one, each part serving together under our Lord, Jesus, the Christ. Within our separate congregations and among anyone we meet who lives obediently under the Lordship of Jesus, we must examine ourselves.
“If anyone claims, “I am living in the light,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is still living in darkness.
Anyone who loves a fellow believer is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble.
But anyone who hates a fellow believer is still living and walking in darkness.
Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness.”
1 John 2:9-11 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1jn.2.9-11.NLT
““You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.
No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket.
Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.
In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.”
Matthew 5:14-16 NLT
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