Artificial Light
There’s a little-known fact about me — I have a strong aversion to artificial light. I almost never turn on lamps or overhead lights in my house. I much prefer natural light by day and usually get along with candlelight and mini white lights by night. Of course, there are times I take advantage of the convenience artificial light provides, but those moments are scarce because I simply don’t like the manufactured glow of it.
We were made for natural light. It feels, well, natural, to be in its presence. We even sing songs about it like John Denver, “Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy, sunshine in my eyes can make me cry.” Or like The Beatles anthem to the passing of winter when they sing, “Here comes the sun…” Or even when referring to love like Stevie Wonder, “You are the sunshine of my life, that’s why I’ll always be around.” No one writes such enthusiastic odes to fluorescent lighting.
In John 8:2 Christ says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” In Matthew 5:14 He also says, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.” There are lots more scriptures on light, but the point being is that we are to shine as Christ shines, with true, authentic light.
As the author of confusion, Satan knows this and does his best to produce a counterfeit. How? 2 Corinthians 11:14 tells us that Satan himself “masquerades as an Angel of Light.” You see, the dark is obvious, but artificial light has the ability to deceive. It still lights up a room, but something about how the brain processes it, you still know it’s a counterfeit to the real thing. It doesn’t feel natural. Sure, you can get used to it after a while, but when you’re actually exposed to real sunlight, there is simply no comparison to the power and warmth it radiates.
Sometimes artificial light comes in the form of some new age philosophy. We live in a world that tries to redefine words to make them mean the opposite of their actual definition, such as ‘love’, ‘marriage’, and now, even the word ‘wholesome’ is being redefined. Isaiah 5:20 says, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness.” The world is easily fooled by these tactics, but for the Believer it should not be difficult to spot.
Where artificial light is most tricky is when it strives to more closely resemble the real thing. In 2 Corinthians 2:13, Paul expresses great concern over “false apostles and deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ.” Jesus warned of this often as well because the more deceitful kind comes in religious forms and requires wisdom to discern. Vance Havner, the noted evangelist and writer, put it like this…
“Satan is not fighting churches; he is joining them. He does more harm by sowing tares than by pulling up wheat. He accomplishes more by imitation than by outright opposition.”
