LifeDate Winter 2024 – Life Shines in Darkness
by Diane Albers, President of Lutherans For Life
Every time my grandson, Davey, has spent the day or the weekend with us in the last four years, he has asked me to read the book Dog by Matthew Van Fleet. It’s a book of photographs of dogs, and Davey has stories about some of the dogs and whom they would belong to in his family. I’m enjoying the book with him because soon I know he will choose another favorite!
My favorite book is All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. It is a historical fiction book about a blind young woman during WWII. It has everything I want in a book: historical fiction, love, drama, sadness, tense situations, well-developed characters, and wonderful writing. (I think I should go read it again!)
There is another book that has a lot of animals in it. It is a true historical book with love, drama, sadness, tense situations, well-developed characters, and wonderful writing. Davey already has two of them, and I have several. I love this book! Can you tell me what book I am talking about? It is God’s book: The Holy Bible. In it, God tells us how much He loves us and that He expects that we will follow His commands. The best part in giving us His story is that we learn that our story has always been part of His story!
“In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:4-5).
The Bible tells us that Jesus is the light that shines in the darkness of sin, and this darkness has not covered up or put out the light of Jesus. Later in John 12:35, Jesus tells the crowd that if you walk in the dark, then you do not know where you are going! As part of our story, we should become children of light!
As Gospel-motivated voices For Life, we uphold the God-given value of human life and influence those around us to do the same. We are compelled by God’s Word in His book to speak and act on behalf of the vulnerable and the defenseless, despite the world’s rejection of the value of human life.
“I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6b).
We see our story in His story because God gives us a part to play. His Word shows us the darkness of our sin but also shows us our salvation. Our world today seems full of the darkness of sin, but God gives us the task of being the light so that His salvation may reach to the ends of the earth. Thank you for being a light shining in the darkness!