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By Receiving Christ, the Source of Life, October 1
In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
John 1:4
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The Lord has made every provision so that we may have a rich, abun-
dant, joyful experience. John writes concerning Christ, saying, “In him
was life; and the life was the light of men.” Life is associated with light,
and if we have no light from the Sun of Righteousness, we can have no
life in Him. But this light has been provided for every soul, and it is only
as we withdraw from the light that darkness comes upon us. Jesus said,
“He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light
of life.” In the world about us there can be no life without light. Were the
sun to withdraw his shining, all vegetation, all animal life, would have an
end. This illustrates the fact that we cannot have spiritual life unless we
place ourselves under the beams of the Sun of Righteousness. If we put a
flowering plant in a dark room, it will soon wither and die; and so we may
have some spiritual life, and yet lose it by dwelling in an atmosphere of
doubt and gloom....
We are called, as was John, not to take the place of Christ, but to
witness to the light, to direct the minds of others to Him.... Let no one
who would witness for Christ, make himself prominent, and seek to attract
the attention of the people to himself; but let him strive to lift up Jesus
Humanity has in itself no light. Apart from Christ, we are like an
unkindled taper, like the moon when her face is turned away from the
sun; we have not a single ray of brightness to shed into the darkness of
the world. But when we turn toward the Sun of Righteousness, when we
come in touch with Christ, the whole soul is aglow with the brightness of
the divine presence
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1
The Youth’s Instructor, May 25, 1893
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2
Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, 64
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