Lead, Kindly Light

Job 38:19 – What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside? (NIV)

During the mid 1980s a lot of people got interested in the reports of near-death experiences that seriously-injured and gravely-ill patients were having all over the world. Some critical event happened that made them feel that they were finally dying. They felt as though they were floating above the surgeons, doctors, and nurses who were frantically trying to save their lives. As their spirits floated away, they were drawn to a pure white light, which attracted their souls away from their bodies into another realm.

Some of those who had had these NDEs, as they came to be known, said that they met Jesus in the midst of the light and that He told them that their time had not come. All of a sudden, their free spirits were rushed back into their bodies, due to a defibrillator or an adrenaline shot being used by the health care professionals to keep them alive.

Documentaries were made about the people who survived death, and they seemed to be changed. They no longer had a morbid fear or fascination of death. It was only a short journey to a better and brighter place. I came across one such person in Maybole, Scotland, and after she expressed what she had experienced, it also explained to me her change of character and rediscovered devotion to the Lord.

As we go through life, we face many challenges, and sometimes we are fearful of what death will bring. This is where faith endures at its best. This is the time when our relationship to God and our union to Christ will at last be sealed forever. We will go on enjoying and experiencing this life as much as we can on earth, but ultimately, every journey, no matter how long, how successful, or how powerful it has become, will end in death. The difference for Christians will be that we will find that abode of light and see Jesus face to face.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are the light of the world, but You are also the light to the next world. Guide our lives each and every day, so that when our human journey ends, our eternal one will begin at the twinkling of an eye, through the power of Your compassion, mercy, and love. In Your holy name, we pray. Amen.

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