Mosquitoes and Cockroaches. Many of you have probably had a irritating run in with one of these two creatures and probably have stories you could tell about it. For me, I am most familiar with mosquitoes, and they are the worst. Since childhood, mosquitoes and summer have always been synonymous. Whether I was golfing, camping, or simply going to the park, they were always there. On the other hand, I have had little to no contact with cockroaches. The first time that I saw a live cockroach was probably about six or seven years ago. They are masters at not being seen and hiding in the dark. These two creatures are not ones that we look forward to seeing. They certainly are not creatures that we look forward to spending a lengthy amount of time in their company either, but before I lose you, (since you are bound to be asking yourself why we are even talking about these irritating bugs in a devotional) let’s look at John 3:19-21.

John 3:19-21 says this: "19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."

Light is a vital part of our existence. Imagine, for a moment, if we lived in a world with no light. How hard would it be to get to work, or do work once you got there for that matter? How would you know which direction to go so that you would not run into things that could injure you, or fall down a hole or hillside? How would simple things like enjoying time with your family be altered if you had no light to see and interact with them? Light is a very precious thing. It is something that we take for granted daily.

Isn’t it interesting that the very first thing God created was light? It is not the sun or stars or any specific object that gives or produces light, but he created light itself. Light is a powerful thing. It allows us to see and to be able to go about our lives being productive. When we have light, we are more comfortable with our surroundings. When we can see we are less likely to be nervous about what might be down an ally way, or down a narrow path in the woods. With light, our worlds are exposed for what they are, and everything is exposed.

This is true for us as well, when the light exposes us for who and what we are, honesty is demanded of us. John 1:4-5 says that Jesus Christ is that light and God sent Him into the world to be the light of the world. Christ comes to us and exposes us for who and what we really are. But in our human nature, our instinct is to run from Him.
We try to hide in the darkness so that the light might not expose us. Even from the beginning, after Adam and Eve first sinned, what was their first response when God came to meet with them in the garden? Genesis 3:8 says that when they heard Him coming, they hid from His presence--they ran from the "light." Just as a cockroach runs from the light, man runs from the light for the same fear that is spelled out in John 3:20; for the fear that our deeds will be exposed and that we will have to be honest with ourselves.

Although both mosquitoes and cockroaches are very irritating pests, there is one difference between them that is worth noting. When a light is turned on, mosquitoes will inherently move towards the light and cockroaches do everything they can to run from it. The decision for us becomes one of movement. Are we moving toward the light or away from the light? Are we making an effort to be as close to the light and live our lives in this light, or are we running to the darkness and turning our back on the light.

Jesus, speaking in >John 12:46, says this: "I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.

Christ came and died for us so that we would not have to live in the darkness any more. He came so that by His light we would be able to live a full and radiant life in Him. Living your life in literal darkness would be a very fearful, depressing, and lonely place to be. But Christ came as light into the world so that our lives would have clarity and we would be able to see, have purpose, peace, confidence and joy in our lives

Final Thought: So when the Light shines into your life, in which direction are you going to choose to move? Towards the Light like the mosquito, or will you flee from the Light into darkness like the cockroach?