Can there be too much sun?

Yesterday we walked miles in the sun, first to the harbor to tour the ships, have lunch, and see the various displays and presentations. We walked several blocks in the bright part of the day to check out the main Victoria library, then walked several more blocks to eat. After that we walked to our B&B to deposit our ‘freebies’ from the Tall Ship tours.

From there we walked the other direction to the other side of the harbor and out on the breakwater, a very long, very narrow, very high concrete buffer. The sun was still shining, and since I am a bit afraid of heights, not a great swimmer, and was having balance problems, this part of our day in the sun was not one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. I did it because my husband wanted to take photos of the tall ships in a mock cannon battle. We also ran into an old friend who cajoled me to the point that I had to do it. For me, this was a big sacrifice!

I remember a young missionary who came to our church to share her vision and request prayer and financial support. She talked about the changes God was making in her life, then said, “The biggest problem with a living sacrifice is that it keeps crawling off the altar.” I’m laughing because there was no way to crawl off that breakwater. It had no railings and was about fifteen feet straight down to more cement and the ocean.

When I read the verse from today’s devotional in Ears from Harvested Sheaves, I thought about her and making sacrifices, and also about the bright light that God sheds on our lives. I had to conclude that the biggest reason I back off so easily from making spiritual sacrifices is not the height of the altar, but that the fire around it is too hot and far too bright.

Today’s verse actually puts these thoughts together. It is Psalm 118:27, “God is the Lord, and He has given us light; bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.”

In the light that God gives, I see who He is and I see myself as He sees me. I know that I have nothing to offer Him, only my life. Yet when I offer that, I can expect a similar response from Him as when His people offered lambs on ancient altars; fire came down from heaven to signify His acceptance of their offer. In that heat and light, the lamb was consumed.

Of course Jesus is the Lamb of God now, and His offer was accepted for all my sin. I need not put anything on a literal altar, nor do I have anything to offer anyway. His sacrifice is complete without me doing anything. At the same time, God asks that I, by the “mercies of God, present (my) body as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is (my) reasonable service” (Romans 12:1).

As I give myself to Him in obedience, I’ve noticed that He often demonstrates His acceptance of what I do with more light. This is something like walking on a dark path with a flashlight; as I step into the light I have, His light moves ahead to illuminate the next step.

Light is wonderful for seeing where I should go and even to help me realize what is true about me or about God, yet sometimes light can be uncomfortably bright. The author of today’s reading has much to say about that aspect of His light. He says that it is light about Himself and also light about myself.

I can see who He is because He impresses something of Himself upon my conscience and reveals something of His character to my soul. He also brings me, by the power of the Holy Spirit, into His presence where I can receive from Him the very life of Christ in all its fulness. As His light illuminates Him, I realize that I am meeting with a heart-searching, sin-hating God. He will not be mocked or messed with. He takes my life and my sacrifice very seriously.

Also, in His light every secret of my heart and every thought in my head is open before Him. As Isaiah said, “Woe is me, I am undone.” My pride, my picky criticism of others, my selfishness, whether expressed and visible or not, cannot be hidden in His light. I see what I am in His holy and pure eyes—a “mass of sin, filth, and corruption, without help, without strength, wisdom, or righteousness, without creature comeliness, without anything of which I can say it is spiritually good.”

Yet in this light, He also shows me the way of salvation through Jesus Christ. He even condescends to show me what I am or can be by grace. While I can now see that He is a God of perfect justice, He is also a God of mercy and grace. His light show me that I am a sinner, that He is the only true God, and that Jesus Christ, whom He hath sent, is the only way to Him.

The light of God reveals the good and the bad, yet because of light, the seed of the gospel can grow in my heart. It can also spring forth to produce fruit. For this, I am grateful and glad. While it may be at times very painful, or hot and far too bright, without light I know I would be in spiritual darkness and bondage. How much better to be here, by God’s grace, under the searing brightness of His Son.