By Tom Shanklin

But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:7 NKJV)

A couple of years ago, I received a small flashlight from an evangelist friend of mine who gave them out as a gift from his ministry. it’s about the size of cigar and sits in my desk drawer ready to shine brightly when needed. When I need to go out to the garage at night, I activate this little treasure, and it lights my way, so I don’t stumble in the dark.

The Apostle John encourages us to “walk in the light as he is in the light.” Of course, he is not talking about physical light, but spiritual. He is speaking to us in the language of the spirit. To walk in the light, we must have our spiritual eyes opened. It’s a choice we must make, first by being born again, and then by living in an awareness of spiritual things.

The challenge is that we live in the natural world, with so very many things distracting us. But with a little discipline, we CAN walk in the Spirit.

Jesus came to open the spiritual realm to us … particularly that realm which He called “the kingdom of God.” This is the place where God lives … in the light. We are called to walk in the light as He is in the light. Then, we have fellowship (sharing in common) with God. In other words, in that place, we can enjoy continual fellowship with our Father, the Creator of the universe. This is hard to describe, and yet glorious and wonderful. As the scripture says, “Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see [him] not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:” (1 Peter 1:8 KJV)

The first thing we must see in the realm of the spirit is Jesus the Savior. John the Baptist (the other John) said it this way, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29 NLT)

Look! Open your eyes and see the lamb of God. See, He came to take your sins away. You do not need to live in the darkness. The light has come. You do not need to be a slave to sin anymore. The sin-bearer has come. It is His blood that makes you pure and opens the door to the kingdom of the Father. It is seeing Jesus that opens up the door to the inheritance that Father God has for you.

But John’s exhortation to walk in the light was written to who are already Christians. Once you are born again you have the light, but then you must choose to walk in the light. It’s like my handy little flashlight which is sitting in my drawer, ready to be used. it’s available, but I must be smart enough to take it out and turn it on.

The Lord is saying, “Walk in the light of the day … then you can see all that I have for you!” When you walk in the light, you can see where you are going. As Jesus said, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.” (John 11:9 NKJV)

When you walk in the light you know who you are, what you have, and what you can do. You know how to minister to others, and you will be able to show them the path of life.

Don’t allow your vision to be clouded by the things of this world. Keep your eyes open to spiritual things. There is a very exciting realm that is continually open to us through the blood of Jesus. In this realm, the sky is not the limit. There is no limit!