Read John 8:12, 2 Corinthians 4:1-6
During my last dive of the season, my buddy and I noticed that my main light had a little flicker to it. Since it was a day dive, it was not a big deal. During a day dive, we mainly use our lights to look for catfish under the rocks. My buddy facebooked me after the dive to mention my light to me and that I need to check it out, maybe change the batteries, and make sure that it is working properly. Even though I knew I needed to work on my dive light, I confess that I didn’t do it for months.
Why? My excuse was that we are currently in a condo now, and all our scuba gear is crammed in a very small closet with all our beach gear, coolers, and other outside stuff. In our North Augusta house, where we lived before we took our current call in Pawleys, we had a nice garage. All of our scuba gear was neatly organized and easy to get to. Now, our scuba equipment is very hard to get to. Just opening our outside closet is frustrating and a long process. I have to pull everything out of the closet to get to the gear (or anything else for that matter). That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.
Two months had passed and I still hadn’t taken the time to check my dive light. What if my batteries were corroding? Corrosion could ruin my super nice dive light. Even though I purchased this light at a great deal, it would be a waste of money to have to get another one. After another week of delaying and with the help of my wife, I went outside to “the closet.” I pulled out all our beach gear, had a cooler fall on me, and finally reached our scuba gear. I found our lights (we have two each) and brought them inside for inspection.
Wow! Every light worked! What a sense of relief! And…all the batteries and lights were corrosion free!!!!!!!! Woo hoo!!!! Unfortunately, we haven’t found a group to dive with here, and since it is “winter,” we knew we wouldn’t be diving for another 2-3 months. I took the batteries out of the lights and stored them separately. There is no reason to take any chances of them corroding over the next few months. When the water becomes warm again, we will be ready to put our batteries back in our lights, and we’ll be good to go.
Jesus said: “I am the light of the world.” Jesus is our light and savior. We live in a dark world, but Jesus gives us light. Light to see, light to walk, and light to live by. We should keep our faith in him and trust him in all that we say and do.
As we walk with Him, we are called to shine HIS light through us. Lets take some time this week to check our light. Is it working properly or not? We spend so much time working on and taking care of our dive gear, car, house, animals, finances, etc, but do we take the time to examine our light of Christ? Is it blinking? Do the batteries need to be replaced, recharged, or restored? Unlike the winter months when it is cold and I don’t dive as much, I can put away my dive light for a bit. Christ calls us to be the light of the world ALL of the time, year round, warm or cold.
If your buddy is looking at you, can he or she see your light? If not, it might be time to change your batteries or get recharged!
Prayer:
Dear God, I’m willing to check my dive lights when they flicker, but I don’t always take the time to examine whether Your light is flickering in me or shining strong. Help me this week to take time to discern if, when, and how I’m shining You, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in my life. Please, make me a beacon of Your light in the darkness, a lighthouse to the lost, and a guide to those seeking. Through You, all things are possible. In Jesus Christ’s name, I pray for His light. AMEN
