Focus

Let yourself become open to God and the knowledge that comes from the Word. Ask God for peace at this time.

---

Read

John 8:12-20 (NRSV)

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” Then the Pharisees said to him, “You are testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not valid.” Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid because I know where I have come from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. You judge by human standards; I judge no one. Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is valid; for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. In your law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is valid. I testify on my own behalf, and the Father who sent me testifies on my behalf.” Then they said to him, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” He spoke these words while he was teaching in the treasury of the temple, but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.

---

Reflect

We are living in a world of chaos. It gets more dangerous every day, it seems. From allegations of political fraud, international unrest, threats of nuclear attacks, to the shooting of innocent children in a place where they should be safe, the world is a very dark place these days.

“God’s in heaven and all’s right with the world” is a saying I’ve always liked, even as a child. It wasn’t just a line from a Robert Browning poem, but it was also a statement of reassurance for me. It seemed to be a case of semantics, perhaps, but I think of it more this way: “Because God’s in heaven, all’s right with the world.’ In this day and age when nothing seems to be right with the world, and there surely doesn’t seem to be much light (of the holy kind) shining forth, we need to remember that God is our refuge. God is the light of the world. We just have to seek God rather than becoming part of the darkness, where sadness, treachery, and evil abide.

---

Pray

Heavenly God, help us to see the light. May we bring others to the your light, until no one is left in darkness. Amen.

Go with God.