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Pensamientos para hoy (afterthought for today)
Cave dwellers
Have you ever been in a cave? Most if not all states have some caves. You can't drive across the country without seeing advertisements to visit local caverns. Even my home state of Florida has a tourist attraction at the Florida Caverns State Park in Marianna. Sometimes these caves are very spectacular with huge, spacious chambers adorned with stalactites hanging from the ceiling and stalagmites rising up from the floor. Caves also have a variety of animal life. The most well known cave dweller is the bat. Other cave creatures include salamanders, spiders, and in those caves that have underground pools and rivers--shrimp, crayfish, and fish.
This is a troglobite, a rare eyeless crayfish,
Orconectes a. australis (Photo by Zach Riggins).
Some of these subterranean creatures are trogloxenes--temporary cave residents. Bats are trogloxenes. They sleep in the cave during the day then go outside at night to search for food. Other cave dwellers are troglobites--creatures that spend their entire existence living in a cave. They never come out of the darkness and never experience the light. They live permanently in the "dark zone". Then there are the troglophiles (
troglos from the Greek meaning "cave" and
phileo from the Greek word for "love, friendship". These troglophiles can live outside the darkness of the cave but they prefer living in darkness.
As fascinating as caves can be, I don't think that any of us would want to live in a cave. We are only momentarily interested in these dark, subterranean places. Most people prefer to live in the light and breathe the fresh air of open spaces. God originally created us to live in a garden. Gardens grow best out in the open and in the light of the sun. But then man rebelled against God. Since that rebellion we have tried to hide from God and hide from the light. The Bible says, "
Men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed (John 3:19-20)."
1 These people have photophobia--fear of the light.
Since all of us are born into this darkness we can only escape when we come to the light. Jesus is the "
true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man (John 1:9)" Jesus says to us: "
I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life (John 8:12)." God wants us to be photophilous--those who love the light. When we see the light we need to come out of the darkness. The Bible says, "
He who practices the truth comes to the Light (John 1:21)."
Unfortunately some people want to be troglophiles. They prefer living in a cave. They try to hide from the light because they are trying to hide from God. The book of Revelation says that when God comes to judge the earth men will hide "
themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains (Revelation 6:15)." But the darkness of a cave is appealing only to those who hate the light.
We need to listen to God who says to those who have come to Jesus, "
You were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them (Ephesians 5:8-11)."
Trying to live in the light,
Pastor Steve
February 8, 2008
Footnotes
1 John 3:19-20 Unless otherwise noted all
Scripture quotations taken from the NASB (New American Standard Bible).
Find more afterthoughts at Mas Pensamientos
(more afterthoughts)
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