What Loving Parents Do
Ray and I always leave a light on near my mother’s room in case she comes out during the night. We keep a light on in the hall outside our room, too. The reason is simple. Light is great insurance against a stumble.
This is the message we have heard from Him
and announce to you,
that God is Light,
and in Him there is no darkness at all.
1 John 1:5
No darkness at all.
God teaches us in Genesis 1:4 that after He made light, He separated it from darkness. Since God wants us to walk in the light, it is imperative that we separate from darkness, too. Since there is no darkness in God at all, we don’t want any darkness in us either.
In a song David wrote in praise of God after He delivered him from his enemies, he said:
For You are my lamp, O Lord;
And the Lord illumines my darkness.
2 Samuel 22:29
God illumines our darkness, too. Kind fathers do that — and kind mothers do, too. When the father in Proverbs encourages his son to gain wisdom, he assures him:
For wisdom will enter your heart
And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
Discretion will guard you,
Understanding will watch over you,
To deliver you from the way of evil,
From the man who speaks perverse things;
From those who leave the paths of uprightness
To walk in the ways of darkness . . .
Proverbs 2:10-13
Proverbs also teaches that:
The way of the wicked is like darkness;
They do not know over what they stumble.
Proverbs 4:19
God loves us too much not to warn us about “those who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness.” What loving parent would create a home where their children “do not know over what they stumble.”
The apostle Matthew quoted from Isaiah to explain what happened when Jesus came:
“The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great Light,
And those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death,
Upon them a Light dawned.”
Matthew 4:16
Many people don’t avail themselves of the Light of Jesus. The apostle John explained why:
This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world,
and men loved the darkness rather than the Light,
for their deeds were evil.
John 3:19
In my 62 years, I have seen giant shifts in what is considered acceptable and unacceptable in society. Some of these shifts have been 180 degree shifts. On some issues, what was once considered good is now considered bad and what was once considered bad is now considered good — if it is even politically correct to use the words “good” and “bad.”
God is a loving parent Who has explained in detail what is light and what is darkness, what is good and what is evil. He has not left us wondering. Imagine a home filled with Light, in which there is no darkness at all and then go build one for your children — it’s what loving parents do.
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness;
Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
Isaiah 5:20
amen!!!