1 John 1:5 -7

"This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin" 1 John 1:5 -7

The story is told of the viper that wanted to get across a river, but didn't know how to swim. Seeing a nearby and very large turtle, the snake asked the shelled creature to carry him to the other side. The amphibian, being no stranger to the likes of the serpent, refused: "You will bite me before we can cross and I will die. It is your nature." With all the guile and shrewdness inherent in the slithering creatures personality, he convinced the turtle that he had been reformed. He was no longer longing to kill turtles, especially one who was helping him cross the river: "After all, if I bit you in the middle of this torrent, not only would you die, but so would I; remember, I don't know how to swim." With great reluctance the turtle accepted the explanation and allowed the serpent to climb upon his back. About half way across the stream, the viper coiled and struck the turtle in the soft part of his outstretched neck. With his dying gasps the turtle said, "I thought you were reformed. Why did you do that?" The serpent lisped back to him, "You were right. I am a viper by nature and I cannot help myself."

John tells us that Jesus is the light, Jesus said that of Himself as well. John goes on to share his thoughts on the nature of man. "If we say we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in darkness, we lie . . ." And here is the truth the turtle learned in our little parable: the man who is dark by nature, cannot help but be dark even though he clothes himself in the garments of a light-filled individual. Since we are all children of darkness by nature, is there any hope for us?

Indeed there is. This hope is in the form of the blood of Jesus. We can have the darkness driven from us by walking with the Master of light. The more time we spend with Him, the more we become like Him and the application of His blood to our sin-sick souls drives all sin from us. Does that me we will remain sinless for the rest of our lives? Hardly! But we have the assurance that our sins can be washed away every day by the cleansing power of the Blood. Eventually, our souls become whiter and whiter and stay whiter much longer between "cleaning cycles." In this way we are made into true children of light.

Is your light shining brightly? If it is, praise God! If it is a bit dim, or in danger of going out, call upon the name of Jesus, He will gladly rekindle your flame and cause it to shine brightly in the darkness that surrounds you. Hallelujah, Amen and Amen.