FOLLOW THESE 10 EASY STEPS...

1. Wait till night time. 2. Go to the darkest room in your house. 3. Close the curtains/blinds and doors, and any other place where light could come in. 4. Turn off all the lights. 5. Stand in the darkness for a few moments with your eyes open. 6. Light a candle and place it in the middle of the room. 7. Make sure you notice how light it seems with just one candle. 8. Understand that one candle can be the difference between darkness and light. 9. Think about how you could be Christ's light in nursing. 10. Pray that God would help you to make a difference in this world of darkness.

Have you ever noticed that light always defeats darkness? When you open your front door on a dark night, the darkness doesn't come in. Instead, the light pushes the darkness away. And when there's a blackout, what do you seek first? I know that I always go for a candle or a torch. I like living in the light.

The Bible has a lot to say about light. In Genesis we read that God created light with just one word… and He saw that the light was good (Genesis 1:3,4). In fact, in the New Testament, 1 John 1:5 tells us that God IS light.

The psalmists describe God as resplendent with light (Psalm 76:4), wrapping Himself up in light as a garment (Psalm 104:2). They talk about the light of God's face (Psalm 4:6, 44:3) and the light of His presence (Psalm 89:15, 90:8). His light guides us (Psalm 43:3) and His Word is a light to our feet (Psalm 119:105).

Paul's letter to the Ephesians, the behaviour of those living in the darkness is described as insensitive, impure, corrupt and unwholesome; they are "darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts." (4:18)

In contrast, those living in the light are said to have "put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." (4:24) They are encouraged to be honest, to build up others, to be kind, compassionate and forgiving, and to be "imitators of God ... and live a life of love". (5:1,2) It is to this lifestyle that we are called as children of God. "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord." (Ephesians 5:8-10)

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Let's live, then, in the light of Jesus Christ, sharing Him with those around us who are still living in darkness. One little candle can be the difference between darkness and LIGHT!

Kath Dixon RN

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