Tuesday is trash pickup at our house. While I was getting it all together out by the garage, I noticed all the little tiny limbs that had fallen from the trees during Monday’s thaw. The ground had been covered with beautiful, untainted white snow but now tiny limbs, pieces of bark and an occasional pinecone littered up this beautiful landscape. God reminded me of an illustration I once used to illustrate sin in people’s lives. The room where we have the wood burner has a window facing the east. During the morning, even though the room had been swept clean, when the sun shone through the window, you could see all kinds of little dust particles floating in the air. These tiny limbs on this blanket of pure white snow was like that dust. What I mean is this: If there hadn’t been any snow on the ground then these limbs wouldn’t have been so noticeable, just as the dust isn’t visible until the sunlight hits the window. It’s just a plain fact; light shows the dirt.

There are at least twenty-six direct and indirect reference of Jesus Christ being the Light of the world in the Gospel of John alone. So, it is befitting that the gospel starts out with; In Him was life and that life was the light of men. Jesus is like that sun shining through that east window. His light reveals little tiny sin that is in your life. You might never have known that it was there –but His light reveals it all. You might think that everyone has sin and besides that, if it is so undetectable, why bother with it? First of all, even though you and I may not notice it, God does and He knows that even just a “little” sin will kill you. Little sinful thoughts become bigger by and by and often times, thoughts become actions. We must remember the warning God gave after He revealed to Caleb his thoughts: “Sin crouches at your door and it desires to have you, but you must master it.” If we choose to live mediocre Christian lives, being apathetic to sin, the light of Jesus Christ will become dimmer and dimmer. It’s kind of like several cloudy days right in a row. You begin to feel humdrum and you can’t explain why. When we, as God’s people, live without the Light, sin begins to cloud our vision and takes away our joy. Which brings me to my final point.

Someone once said to me, “I’m not that bad of a person. I haven’t hurt anyone with my lifestyle.” In other words, they were saying that the sin in their life wasn’t significant enough to affect anyone else; therefore, it was all right to be a little sinful. That is not a Christian attitude. Didn’t Jesus tell us to treat others as we want to be treated? Knowing what you know about Heaven and Hell, wouldn’t you want others to encourage you to live for Christ? Knowing what you know, wouldn’t you want someone to caution you about a reckless way of life? Knowing what you know, wouldn’t you want someone to tell you that if you die in your sins –you will die and go to Hell? I guarantee you, Beloved, someone who allows sin in their own life (no matter how insignificant they may think it is) will never warn people of the coming Judgment of God. And not telling people about the Light of the World will prove to be the greatest sin of all.