Before the foundation of the world, Jesus was Light.  That didn’t change at His incarnation.  Whether infant, boy child or the adult Jesus in full-time ministry, He was always the Light of the world. And I know what spiritual light does.  It draws and warms the searching heart but also exposes and convicts.  I am naive to think that the full ramifications of living as God’s righteous Son only began in His adulthood.  It wouldn’t be long after Jesus’ birth that His righteous gaze saw clear through people, even the souls of His parents.  I sometimes wonder if young Jesus was punished simply because the adults felt exposed by His light.   Guilt and shame often initiate rash acts of revenge.

Though scripture doesn’t fill in the blanks of Jesus’ childhood, there are things I can safely assume because of who Jesus is.  His light exposes darkness, whether a child, adolescent, or adult.  It divides children’s play.  It challenged the rabbis in the temple.  It pierced the conversations at family gatherings.  I am to live the life Jesus lived by choosing light and rejecting darkness.  With Him dwelling in me, He enables me to sort one against another. This spiritually inductive process happens all day long and has the same combustible reactions in a group that Jesus experienced.  From the moment I am set apart for sanctification, His light in me draws or offends.

Other disciples can lead me in paths of righteousness, but not always.  How well I sort out and separate light from darkness will depend on how well I know Jesus.   I affirm my worship of the Light of the world, even as the cooing infant in Mary’s arms.

Light is clean, direct, and reveals everything in its path.  Darkness is obscure, tormenting, and hides the path I am to take.  Oh Lord Jesus, I choose Your way.  Amen