Walk in the Light

October is here. This means Fall is here! This means cooler weather. This means those of us reading the Chronological Bible are now in the New Testament!

The fact that it took ten months to get through the Old Testament shows us just how long the Old Testament is. I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the reading thus far. I am left with an over- whelming sense of God’s faithfulness as I look back over God’s hand through time.

But I am happy to be in the New Testament now. Already I have had some passages jump out at me.

“For everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But 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.” John 3:20-21

Surprises lurk in this passage. Encouragement too.
Parallel structure waves its hand in this passage. Then comes the surprise.

First we see that doing evil is the opposite of living by the truth. This is clear enough. Evil always has lies built into it. This is not surprising.

Then we see that evil deeds seek the darkness so the deeds are not exposed. This is clear enough as well. We are creatures who shun shame.

But the parallel surprised me. I thought it would say if you love the truth you will step into the light so your deeds will be seen clearly. But this is not what Jesus said. He puts a twist in the parallel structure. What he said is “whoever lives by the truth comes in the light; so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”