High Beams Low Beams

I spend a lot of time traveling to and from work, both for the ministry and for painting. I would say at least one third or more of that travel time is done at night in the dark. In the winter time it is usually a little scarier because of not being able to fully see how clear the streets are. However in the summer time you deal with a bug splattered anatomy class on your windshield, so I haven’t fully made up my mind which one is better. I don’t like the cold so for me I guess the summer bugs splattered on the windshield is better than the snowy or icy roads. What about you? Which do you prefer? If you were to estimate how much of the awake hours of your life are spent in the dark what would your percentage be? When I’m driving at night I like using my high beam headlights because they allow me to see such a wider and farther view of the road I’m traveling on. There are many times though when I can’t use them because of oncoming traffic or because I’m directly behind someone. That’s when my low beams shine with their purpose. But have any of you driven or rode in the car with someone who has their lights on low beam and the lights are dirty from the roads or bug splattered? That can get real scary especially in the country where there are no street lights.

I remember one time driving out in the country at night and in a snow storm with only one headlight trying to get home from work. It was so scary and I didn’t know if I was even going to make it home. The snow was blowing and drifting on the road and it kept tugging my truck toward the ditch, but every time I managed to keep it on the road. There is absolutely no way that I would have made it home if that other light would have burnt out. Now that I have been serving Christ for a number of years I can look back at my life and realize that I spent quite a bit of it driving around in the dark with the blizzards of life all around me.

Today I am so grateful that the life I live is surrounded by Gods light. His light pierces right through any storm that life would try and throw our way. How many of you are excited that spring is finally here? Me too, I’m so excited with this new season comes all kinds of opportunities for us to shine as Gods light in our community. Let’s take a look in Genesis chapter one verse 1-5 and 14-18 and see what we learn about light and darkness.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep and the spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw the light was good and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day” and the darkness He called “night.” And there was evening and there was morning- the first day. I find it very interesting that the first thing God made for the world is light.

It really shows me how important our sense of sight is. In verse 27 the Bible says, So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them. See we need light just as much as God needed light. When I look around at all the beautiful things in this world. I’m grateful that God decided to create light before He created all the other things. We see the wonders of Gods glory and the display of Gods artwork on the canvas of the world and the universes he created.

As awesome as it is have you ever wondered what it might have looked like if he had created it in the dark? That kind of sounds silly doesn’t it, but in all reality many times we look at our lives from a dark perspective rather than from a light perspective. Our glass is half empty instead of half full. Yet we live in a world where everything around us was created in the light. God even created the stars and the moon to be the dimmer light that governs the night. Let’s take a look at what he did in verses 14-18. And God said, “Let there be light in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth. “And it was so.

God made two great lights – the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth to govern the day and the night and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning. The fourth day. In Psalms 19:1 David says “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the works of His hands.” Did you know that the sun he created to govern the day is a huge ball of fire that burns at 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit and is 93 million miles away from the earth. Its light travels at a speed of 186,000 miles a second.

That’s incredible! But what’s even more incredible is the fact that he placed it right where it is. See if the sun were only a few miles closer to us we would all burn and a few miles away from us and we would all freeze. So the fact that God created a light so magnificent to govern the day and the night just proves to me how important our sight is. In Matthew 6:22-23 Jesus says “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad your whole body will be filled with darkness. If then the light within you is darkness how great is that darkness. Wow that’s interesting if our eyes are the lamp of our body and the headlights the lamp of our car that means they both have a huge part in leading us on the road of life…

So where are your eyes leading you? What are you taking time to view with your eyes? Is it the things of God or is it the things of man? If your eyes are the lamp of your body what are they taking in? There are so many things in this world today that catch people’s eyes. I sometimes feel like people don’t even stop and think about where their eyes are leading them. Looking back at my own life I wish I would have taken more time to think about where my eyes were leading me. People get caught up in doing things and in the moment it seems fine, but only later to realize that they were snared into taking it too far. Even playing the x-box or chatting on Facebook can be a bad thing for you if it consumes all of your time.

Then of course you have the obvious ones such as greed, lust, envy, drunkenness, selfish ambitions, and hatred. The sad thing about these is that they are usually wrapped up in a nice package and are appealing because of that, but after opening them they come with a deadly sting. Who doesn’t want to have nice things? We all want them, but it’s when getting them becomes more important than everything else that it has become greed. The same goes for all of God’s creation isn’t it beautiful, and it only becomes lust when men look at it with selfish and impure thoughts. Then there’s envy and jealousy which stems from a lack of thankfulness for the things you do have. What about parties there great right, but there not so great when drunkenness breaks out into a fight or sexual abuse or misuse. It’s good to be ambitious until it means walking all over your peers to get to the top. Hatred is a little harder for the enemy to hide and always stems from a lack of love and discontentment. No matter what category of sin is finding its way into your life, it’s all dealt with by the blood of Jesus which was poured out for the forgiveness of our sins. I believe what God is revealing to us tonight is that we all need to keep our eyes set on Him and all His creation and not on the things created by man that lead us away from that quality time with Him.

See I believe that darkness only exists in the lack of light. There is not a single life that is too dark for the light of Jesus Christ to penetrate it! See Jesus truly exists, but darkness only exists without Him. So tonight are you operating the eyes of your life with high beams or low beams. See I believe that Jesus is asking some of you if the light within you is darkness how great is that darkness? If it is darkness are you willing to give your life to Jesus tonight and allow him to exchange your darkness for light?

Or maybe your in here tonight and you’ve already received the light of Jesus Christ but you feel like your going through life with only low beams and bugs splattered all over them. God wants to exchange them tonight for a new set of high beams. If God is speaking to you, know that God fixes faded headlights. Please come forward tonight and let him fix yours…

Thank you for worshipping with us tonight and thanks for letting God challenge you and sharpen you with His loving word. In John 8:12 Jesus say’s “I am the light of the world, he who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” So go out and shine brightly for the things that God has done in your lives!!!