Lights are a key item in every home, store, factory, room, and crevice here in America.
I don't know about your mom but as soon as I enter Walmart with mine, she always says in this Jersey accent, "I HATE this place! I HATE these lights! They hurt my eyes! Never again! You know I don't like this place!" It's true, we know! We know this will be quoted almost word for word EVERY time we step into Walmart.
My current roommate here in Te-haus typically comes in sometime in the middle of the night and for the first week she had moved in, I would keep the outside light on, as well as a living room light, and then the bathroom light in our room. When I would get up the next morning, she was in bed but then all of the lights I left on for here were still on.
I may be the extreme but I'm semi-OCD with turning off the lights after I exit a room. Also, I'm not all about paying the electric bill! So I started leaving it pitch black in the house except for one light, the bathroom.
"Then Jesus told them, 'You are going to have light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light.'" ~John12:35-36
Then a few verses/some time later, Jesus says, "I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness."
The light is Christ. In the first verse he's talking to this crowd who was asking a bunch of questions but was talking about himself being the light but not being physically with them very long and the darkness would come then. As you can see though, this also applies to us right now!
A few years ago I was watching this movie (which I recently saw again but already forget which one it was) and I head this quote that was like "my quote" for the year and it was, "To be a small light in a dark room."
It's easy for us sometimes to want to back out of life and just chill in the darkness. Let's admit, there are a ton of things out there that look appealing but we know are dark, and yet we think, "Oh, just this once" or "If I do it one time... it won't become a habit" and then shortly down the road we find ourselves with the match having be struck, burning down to our fingers, blown out and at the smoking stage and being completely in the dark...not to mention the stick behind.
About matches. If you poo and light a match, it totally takes over whatever smell's in the room. Same with sin, that junk takes over and snuff's out anything good in your life... and then lingers on for a while.
With light though, you light one match and the whole room lights up! Check out this couch some friends and I burnt a few weeks ago. It only took one match to start this thing and within less than 5 minutes it was fully ablaze.
*** As the photo was uploading Hillsong United's song "Light Will Shine" came on!*** Yeah God, you are fun!
With one light, Christ, He lights up everything. Exposes the darkness. It's your guide. You don't have to be scared or afraid.
When I was in college somehow I became a RA (resident assistant) and I spent hours cutting out these stars to hang on the ceiling and walls and it was all brought on by this verse that rocked my world.
"Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life-- in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing." ~Philippians 2:14-16
