JOHN 1.5: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (ESV) Jesus said in John 8.12, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (ESV) I believe Jesus is expressing himself metaphorically with the meaning that the light that comes from him shows us the right way to walk, illuminating our path, and showing us how to live in a way that pleases God the Father. And since Jesus is the Light, there is no other source of illumination that could show us the genuine and right path to follow. So how do you feel when you see the sun break the eastern horizon in the morning on a clear day? For me, I feel optimistic and secure. Things are in good order. The clarity of sight and thought are in my grasp because the sun makes me see things as they actually are. There is sort of a symbolism regarding the light the sun gives that refers us to Jesus as the Light of our lives. When I was a youngster, I spent the night in the farmhouse of my aunt and uncle and the arrangement of the house was not completely familiar to me. I had to get up and go the restroom in the middle of the night. The house was pitch dark and I effectively walked in darkness for about ten minutes trying to find my way. I stumbled, bumped into furniture and went in a circuitous path around and around. It was not certain that I would successfully get to the destination, and it was a path full of error. I was literally walking in darkness. Following Jesus as our Light takes us out of the darkness, and his teachings illuminate for us the right way to live. It takes studying the Bible, especially the New Testament, to correctly understand what Jesus taught during his time on earth. We will all meander away from the correct path, choosing from time to time to walk in the darkness, but it is the light of Jesus that brings us back. I believe that knowing and following Jesus is more than just studying the Bible, but I do not believe that we can know Jesus separate and apart from what the Bible reveals to us about him. And we can not know the reality of walking in the light without his revelation of truth to us, as it is set forth in the Bible. Living and walking in darkness is the symbolic statement of walking in sin and error. We can see this idea further developed in the letter of First John. Mistakes are made and sin is done in darkness, with their rebellion and bad intent. But Jesus, by his teaching shining the light of the truth, makes it possible for us to walk with him guiding us. But he does not force the issue upon us. We must of our own initiative and desire seek for him to lead us, by asking him in prayer, as we live in agreement with the truth which he makes us to understand and see.