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"When God gets us alone by affliction, heartbreak, or temptation, by disappointment, sickness, or by thwarted affection, by a broken friendship, or by a new friendship — when He gets us absolutely alone, and we are dumbfounded and cannot ask one question, then He begins to expound." — Oswald Chambers.
"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. If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin." (1 John 1:5–7).
Have you ever given intense thought to what walking in the light means? Is it a callout to be morally pure? Perhaps, but as sinners, Jesus knows we are at our base level, incapable of that on our own. A deeper look at the context of the apostle John’s message may reveal a different interpretation — a call for honesty, specifically as it pertains to the confession of our sins (1 John 1:5–10). From this perspective, walking in the light means honesty with our sinful lives and our soul’s constant need of a Savior. It means feeling the conviction of sin that leads to personal repentance for the death of an innocent, most holy Son of God.
Sure, we should strive to live morally pure lives, remembering the infinitely good and just source of our every breath. There are plenty of verses that call for this purity (1 Thess. 4; Phil. 4:8; Prov. 22:11; Ps. 119:9). Yet our sanctification was first justified by the death of Jesus Christ. Let us be honest with our daily need for bread — grace from our Savior.
If this interpretation brings new meaning for you, it may also highlight grace in your life and reduce a powerful burden Satan has placed on your shoulders (Matt. 11:28). Honesty is how we leave the crowded darkness of the room and enter the light of the hallway, alone in the presence of God. With the spotlight on our depravity, honesty keeps us walking the path in the rays of His love. The miracle of the Gospel quickly fills us with the completion of His joy (1 John 1:4). Although we first felt alone in the affliction and temptation that God allowed the world to bring, our courageous walk in the light instantly reminds us that we were actually and always perfectly loved.
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