EXPOSURE
All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. John 3:20 NLT
Whether infant, boy child, or adult Jesus in full time ministry, He was the Light of the world. Throughout His ministry, He told us what Light does. It draws and warms the searching heart but it also exposes and convicts. It probably wasn’t long after Jesus’ birth that His righteous gaze saw clear through people, even the souls of His parents. Their sins had to be an open book. Was Jesus ever punished simply because the adults in His life felt exposed by the light of His glory? And what about His siblings? Talk about tension in the house!
Though scripture doesn’t fill in the blanks of Jesus’ childhood, these are the kinds of things I can safely assume because of what Jesus revealed about Himself. His light exposed darkness ~ whether child, adolescent, or adult, Roman solder, or Jewish leader. It divided child’s play and it challenged the rabbis in the temple. It most assuredly pierced conversations at family gatherings.
His Light still exposes. My own sin is under His gaze. How many times have I felt the burning in my heart! It happens when I’m just thinking about wrong-doing and it gets really intense when I go ahead and do it. The burning is conviction and guilt, but it is also sadness that I have grieved Jesus. Exposure can cause anyone, even the most seasoned saint, to wonder if God’s love will be faithful in the face of failure. The same Light of the world that exposes also bathes the sinner in a love that melts away all fear.
Thank you for exposing my sin. I get to be freed from its clutches and also feel the warmth of Your embrace. Amen
For more from Christine Wyrtzen and Jaime Wyrtzen Lauze, please visit www.daughtersofpromise.org
Originally published Monday, 11 November 2024.