45. When we are confronted with light, we cannot remain neutral.
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. {John 3:19}
Here’s the thing we sometimes have difficulty understanding: when God brings light that illuminates our darkness, we can no longer remain neutral. We have no choice but to “see” the reality of the darkness we’ve been embracing, and once we have “seen,” we can’t “unsee.” In order to continue on in the darkness, we must reject the light, we must reject what we have seen. In order to walk in the light, we must embrace what we have seen. Either way, once God brings the light, we must make a choice one way or the other. There is no way we can remain neutral.
As we see in the story of Pharaoh, rejecting the light of truth has a hardening effect on our hearts. That means, if we reject for any reason something that we have been convicted of, it is a little bit harder for us to see light the next time. The opposite is also true. If we embrace something that we have been convicted of and allow that to bring us out of darkness even in the smallest way, it is a little bit easier for us to see light the next time.
Over a long period of time, as the Spirit continues to come to us, we make the choice to either harden or soften our hearts as we choose to either reject or embrace the light He brings. But we can never remain neutral. Once we encounter God, no matter what we choose, we cannot be the same.
If you want to dig deeper—
Exodus 8:19
Exodus 9:7
Deuteronomy 10:16
2 Chronicles 34:27
Psalm 95:8-9
Proverbs 2:13-14
Isaiah 42:18-20
Jeremiah 16:12
Daniel 5:20
Mark 3:5
John 12:44-46
Ephesians 5:8-9