The young man was convinced that he had the ability to fly. Many attempted to convince him otherwise, but he was sure he could. He proceeded to hurl himself from a second story window to prove that he could do what he said, only to plunge to his death.
There is probably no more gripping deception than self-deception. It is a tragic thing when someone has accepted darkness as light - false for true. Jesus spoke clearly about this problem in Matthew 6:22-23; "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 full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness." It is exceedingly difficult to share the light with people who have embraced darkness as light. We cry with Isaiah; "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter." (Isaiah 5:20)
What a vivid description of the society we live in. It is a world where good and evil, right and wrong, moral and immoral have become so vague as not to exist. Our society consistently embraces darkness as light. This is one great obstacle in sharing the gospel. When people are convinced that they are all right, they have no need of a Savior. When people have concluded they are fully self-sufficient there is no need for God. When people have embraced the lie that god is a matter of personal preference, there is no separation from God and no need of reconciliation. Woe to those who are full of darkness and call it light.
Let us not to be quick to point the finger. Self-examination is crucial here. If we are ever to be able to fulfill our responsibility to "go and make disciples" in such a world as this, we must be sure that we are "walking in the light as He is in the light." (1 John 1:7) We must be sure that we are fully surrendered to God so that His Spirit abides in His fullness making our eyes good. This is why Jesus went on to caution that we cannot serve two masters. (Matthew 6:24) Only when Jesus is Lord do we have good eyes that can distinguish between darkness and light. Only when Jesus is Lord do we crave and feast upon His Word so that every fiber of our being is saturated with the Living Truth. Only when Jesus is Lord do we submit to the body of Christ being accountable for what we believe, say, teach and preach. Only when Jesus is Lord can we walk in true light with blessed assurance.
There are many purveyors of false light in our world. No wonder for "Satan himself masquerades as angel of light." (1 Corinthians 11:14) Therefore, we must be very sure that our hungering and thirsting is for righteousness. For as we hunger and thirst for righteousness, God fills us with Himself (Matthew 5:6) and thereby gives us good eyes -eyes able to recognize true light.
Keep Close To Jesus.
Pastor Gerry