Face the Light, Not the Shadow

Psalm 145:18 “The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.”

Who has not gone to a funeral without hearing Psalm 23 speak of the “valley of the shadow of death?” Nothing brings us closer to the reality of our mortality on earth than the face-to-face lose of a loved one, family member or personal acquaintance. At that time, when the presiding pastor asks the funeral attendees: “If you were to die today, have you come to a place in your own personal and spiritual life where you know for certain that you have eternal life? If you were standing before God and he were to ask you, ‘Why should I let you into My heaven?’”, What would you say?  The truth and certainty of the shadow of death is in front of us. But, God is never closer than when you are in a dark valley. That’s when He is especially near.

Psalm 23 “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.”

I read an encouraging message the other day that said, for every shadow, there must be light. Jesus Christ said, “I am the light of the world” - John 8:12. A shadow may frighten you, but a shadow cannot really hurt you. A shadow at one time or another has spooked many of us. But thank God, death is but a shadow if you know the Lord Jesus Christ. If you keep your face toward the light, the shadow will fall behind you. You won’t even see the shadow. God doesn’t bring us to a valley to leave us there. The Good Shepherd always brings us through. Death is the gateway of the child of God between sanctification in our earthly existence and glorification in eternity (dwelling in the house of the Lord forever). This is the “eternal perspective” facing the light and not the shadow.

John 11:25-26 “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Once we are saved by faith in Jesus, we can say in blessed assurance: “I will fear no evil; for You are with me … and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”  Glory be to God; not man, nor the things of this secular humanist world. Eternity actually begins the day that you and I believe in God’s plan of Salvation in Jesus Christ alone. We need to live holy lives before our fellow man, and righteous lives before the eyes of our loving and merciful Creator God and Lord, facing the light, not the shadow.

Hebrews 13:5 “Let your character or moral disposition be free from love of greed, avarice, lust, and craving for earthly possessions and be satisfied with your present circumstances and with what you have; for God Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. I will not, I will not, I will not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let you down or relax My hold on you! Assuredly not!”

In Christ, Brian