Suddenly a man appeared who was sent from God, a messenger named John. 7 For he came as a witness, to point the way to the Light of Life, and to help everyone believe. 8 John was not that Light but he came to show who is. For he was merely a messenger to speak the truth about the Light. 9 For the perfect Light of Truth was coming into the world to shine upon everyone.
John 1:6-9:
In this passage we see John describing the Messiah, Jesus, as being the light of the world. Not just a normal light but a true light, or as the passion translation puts it “the perfect light of truth”.
A few years ago, when someone came to do some work on the house they used a laser level. It was very accurate, using laser light to see if something is straight and true. For me, this is a great analogy for Jesus. The one who is truth, the one who we look to to measure if anything else is straight and true.
If I put up a shelf, I never use a spirit level, I do it by eye. And the reason I do it by eye is that if I use a spirit level it can sometimes look like the shelf is not level, because the wall I am putting it on is not level.
That’s the same as trying to measure truth by the world’s standards. The world says we need to live for ourselves; Jesus says we need to live for others. The world says we need to follow after fame and fortune; Jesus says, “Follow me”. Sometimes the truths of God seem out of line by the world’s standards. But He, God, is the perfect standard who we can measure our own lives with and try to get level with his. If we want to live life on the level, let Him be your perfect light of truth and allow that light of truth to shine in your hearts. It is a hard and challenging ask – to make sure that how we live and think is in line with what God wants and expects of us – but is something that we need to do.
