Many years ago, a wealthy Chinese businessman visited England and was fascinated by a powerful microscope and the wonders it uncovered. So he bought one and took it back to China. He thoroughly enjoyed using it until one day when he looked at some rice that he was planning to eat for dinner. To his shock, he saw tiny living creatures crawling in it. He didn’t know what to do, since rice was a staple of his diet. Finally, in frustration, he smashed his microscope to bits. It had revealed something distasteful to him, so rather than simply change the way he cooked the rice, he destroyed the source of the discovery!
One might argue, “well, that’s stupid!”. Yet, that is the exact same way many people react to God and His Word. When they hear a message that pricks their heart – they turn off the message. When they read something obvious in the Bible about changes needed in their life – they simply stop reading the Bible. Yet, just as destroying a microscope will in no way change what the microscope revealed, the same is true with God. You can try to silence the message, stop reading His Word, or simply try to argue that it isn’t relevant to us today – but that doesn’t change the fact that God and His Word are just as true today as they were when the men of God led by the Holy Spirit penned them.
The Apostle John summed it up quite well in John 3:19, “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.” Jesus came preaching the truth and the life – His message turned the light on to the darkness that surrounded Him, and most people simply said “Turn That LIGHT Out!!” And they crucified Him!
For thousands of years, people have persecuted and killed people who truly follow Jesus, simply because they don’t want the light shining on their darkness. Well, attempting to remove the source of the light doesn’t in ANY way change the fact that there is darkness all around. And we know from God’s Word that He will not have ANY fellowship with those who walk in darkness. We can try to turn the light off, or we can correct the wrong in our life that the LIGHT has revealed to us.
Just remember, what God’s Word says: “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” (James 4:17) Once the darkness has been revealed to us – we are responsible to God for our actions and what we do with that darkness.